Kaminari no muchi- Lightning Whip
by ShadowWolf62400
Summary: A new face comes to the Academy and later to the 13 Court Guard Squads, surprising a certain young captain. Kurai Ame has had a difficult past, but who hasn't? It's what you do about it, and what you do with your future that counts. Your past doesn't define you and Kurai is about to learn that very important lesson. After all, she's got a promise to keep and an ambition to fulfill.
1. Chapter 1

**Yo! ShadowWolf62400 here! So this is my second fan fiction but my first one for Bleach. My other is called ****Fox Angel**** and is for Black Butler. Please tell me if there is anything I can do to make this story better. I do not care if it is criticism, I welcome it. I welcome it all! Also, I have not finished the anime or even touched the manga so something's may be strange but I'm just going to go with what I know. Like I know Shunsui eventually becomes head-captain, but I'm keeping Yamamoto as head-captain, so yeah. Alright, now on to the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach. **

_Thoughts and dreams/ inner world _

'_Speaking in head' (i.e. her zanpakutō)_

Emphasis

'_**Zanpakutō speaking'**_

**%#%#%#%**= line break

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Chapter 1: I Could Fill a Book with What I Have on Soul Reapers

**%#%#%#%**

_I looked around. I was in the middle of a very large clearing surrounded by tall, lush trees. The grass was soft beneath my bare feet and slightly warm. There was a large lake at the far end of the clearing. 'This place is amazing, beautiful.' But the most amazing part was the sky. There were thick, fluffy, dark grey clouds that showered rain on me, but I didn't get wet at all. I could hear the thunder, thrumming gently, as if the sky was purring. Occasionally, silver- blue- white lightning would flash across the sky in a beautiful dance, moving in beat to the thunder. Even though the sky was dark, this place was still bright, and I could see all the vivid colors this place had to offer. I smiled. I had been here before. I dreamed of this place often, and I enjoyed it since it was the only place I was ever able to be really free. As if in response to my dream-thoughts, my light brown, naturally highlighted with gold and copper fox ears, which matched my hair color perfectly, twitched along with my long, fluffy fox tail. And that was when the screaming began._

**%#%#%#%**

(Kurai's P.O.V)

"Kurai, get your ass down here before I come up to get you!" my mom yelled. I was startled out of my dream so bad by my mother's loud voice that I fell out of bed. This actually happened so much, that even if I woke up on my own, I would still fall out of bed. It was a ridiculous habit that had developed. I landed on the floor with a 'thud', my fox ears picking up the sound of my mom's laughter. I growled as I stood up and walked out of my room.

"Good morning!" my dad greeted me. Tama Ame had short blond hair and sparkling green eyes. He had a lean athletic body and was tall.

"She fell out of bed again today," my mom said. Nanomi Ame had long, straight hair that was a vibrant silver and had piercing violet eyes. She is a gentle person with a major mother-hen attitude with a nasty temper if provoked. At least I got something from my parents. I was kind of short only standing at 4' 11'', yet I had the appearance of a human in their mid- late teens. I had long light brown hair with natural gold and copper highlights that reached about half way down my back. My eyes are a stormy grey- blue with gold flecks, making them seem turquoise from a distance.

"I fall out of bed every day now thanks to you, mom" I said. "It's all thanks to your crazy loud voice."

"Hey, you have a crazy loud voice as well, missy," she said. It was true.

"Anyway, if you want some breakfast you'd better hurry, before any more shops open up," she said. I nodded before running to my room to get dressed. I took out a pair of loose black pants that were cuffed at the ankles and put them on after wrapping my tail around my right leg. I took out some bandages and wrapped up my chest tightly, making me seem… flatter… then I really am. Then I pulled on a red long sleeved wrap-around shirt that was tied closed with a black piece of fabric around my waist. All of my clothes were dirty and tattered. I tied my hair in a tight, high, side ponytail with a black ribbon, also tattered. I then tied a red bandana over my head, covering my fox ears. Then I left to go collect my breakfast.

**%#%#%#%**

As I walked down the street, I ignored the whispers and the glares filled with hatred and fear. It was all because of my spiritual energy. As I walked, people moved out of my way, doing all they could to avoid touching me. I sighed before disappearing into a dark alleyway covered with shadows. I turned around and spotted my target for today. _Yum, today he made chocolate-chip bread._ I reached into a pocket I had sown into my pants and pulled out a ring with different sized wires. After ten minutes of surveillance on the baker, I was about to run out of the alley to retrieve my breakfast, but I felt a hand come down on my shoulder and pull me further into the shadows. I whirled around, shaking off the hand that had been touching me. I got into a crouched, defensive position and was about to speak when I felt something being pushed toward me. I sniffed and recognized the sweet smell of chocolate-chip bread. I also smelt something else. It was the scent that belonged to the person standing in front of me.

He smelled like fresh snow and frozen ice, like a winter storm about to break. When I didn't take it he spoke. "It's not poisoned, you know. It's okay to eat it. You must be starving considering how much spiritual energy you have," his voice was kind of deep and told me he was slightly annoyed by me not taking the offered bread. I did take it, bringing it up to my nose to smell it. When I didn't smell anything on or in it that could be dangerous, I took a tentative bite. The bread was sweet, but not overly so. I have a major sweet tooth. Once I had eaten enough to sate my hunger, I stopped before swallowing dryly. As if knowing what was wrong, a water bottle was tossed to me. I caught it, and once again smelt it to see if it was poisoned. In this area of the Rukon district, you can never be too careful. This place was North Rukon, district 69, Mumei (nameless, unknown).

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, my tone portraying how guarded I am as I tossed back the now empty bottle. As the bottle flew through the air, I tried to get a good look at the guy who had given me the bread, but all I could see was a pair of beautiful turquoise eyes that seemed to almost glow. I felt strength returning to my body since I now had some food and water in my body. Here, it was hard to come by both. Not impossible, as in some of the other districts, but not easy.

"I only helped you because you were hungry. And, because it looked like no one else was going to. You should consider going to the Soul Reaper Academy. They can teach you to control that spiritual energy of yours," he said. "Don't you have any friends in this place?"

"No. And I'm not joining the academy," I said, my voice laced with annoyance at the statement.

"Why not? Don't you want to become a soul reaper and use the power you have to help people?" he asked.

"I'll never become a soul reaper. From what I've seen, soul reapers don't do anything but sit around and drink the day away," I growled.

"What do you mean? Not every soul reaper is like that," he said, confused as to why I would say that. I snorted.

"Ha. I could fill a book with all the dirt I have on the soul reapers who are stationed here. You want to know? Three years ago, a hollow attacked. I had just arrived at the area where it was and saw four soul reapers just standing there, watching as it devoured my only friend's soul. They didn't even lift a finger to help. Only when the hollow went after them did they step up and kill it. When I asked them why they didn't save my friend they said that she was too weak. That if she'd been stronger, she would've been able to kill it herself. I told them that we were only souls, not soul reapers, but they didn't care. They walked away laughing about they had just seen and saying how weak she was. From then on, I've hated every soul reaper here, because all they do is drink instead of help us like they're supposed to. Now do you see? And that's only the beginning," I finished. He was speechless. "Now, I have to get back home. Thank you for the food, soul reaper," I said. I had caught a flash of whit earlier from the lining of his shihakushō. Then, I disappeared, taking the bread with me.

**%#%#%#%**

As soon as I arrived home a half hour later, I knew something was different. I couldn't feel my parent's energies. I ran inside and gasped. My parents were lying on the floor, covered in blood. I ran over to them, to see they were still alive.

"K-kurai," my mom chocked out.

"Shh, don't talk," I said, putting her head in my lap.

"Kurai, b-become a s-soul r-reaper," she breathed. I stared at her in shock.

"I k-know how you f-feel about t-them, but they a-are not all b-bad p-people. Go, and b-become a s-soul reaper. We have f-friends who are c-captains. They will help you. They a-are Captain U-Unohana of squad 4, Captain Kyōraku of s-squad 8, and Captain Ukitake of squad 13. Also, o-of course don't f-forget the h-head captain. Become the b-best soul r-reaper you can be. And remember, no matter what we will always be proud of you, and we love you, Kurai." And with that, my mom died, both of my parents disintegrating back into reishi. Tears feel down my cheeks and the last thing I remember before passing out, was the semi-familiar feel of the boy's spiritual energy from before.

**%#%#%#%**

_I was back in the clearing, except it was a little different know. It was darker, the thunder louder, the lightning which was now a bloody crimson was more frequent and violent, and the rain now poured down. For the first time since I started coming here, I was actually getting wet. I screamed into the sky, my cries resonating with the thunder until they were one sound. Eventually, I passed out from my own little world into blissful nothingness._

**%#%#%#%**

I woke up to see my busted down house. Silently, I stood up and made my way to my room. I packed anything I could possibly need before heading out. I ran, using self-taught flash step to speed up. I learned it from listening to some drunken soul reapers explaining how to do it. I pushed more spiritual energy into my feet, increasing my speed. _I can still make it. If I don't stop, I can get to Seireitei before the entrance exams are over. Mom, dad, I'll honor your last wish. I __will__ become a soul reaper._

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**Yo! So here is chapter 1. How do guys like it? Please review. Please. Questions, comments, concerns, review or PM me. Please, don't hold them in. I'll respond if I can. **

**Later, peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo! Here is chapter 2 of **Kaminari no muchi- Lightning Whip**. Hope that all of you who are reading this enjoys!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Toboe, or Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. **

_Thoughts and dreams/ inner world _

'_Speaking in head' (i.e. to her zanpakutō)_

Emphasis

'_**Zanpakutō speaking' **_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 2: I hate Exams. Always Had, Always Will.

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I had traveled all the way to district 60 before stopping for a break. It was almost nightfall now. _I still have 60 districts to cover and I only have five more days until the entrance exams close for the year. I promised them I would become a soul reaper, and I promised myself that if I had to become a soul reaper, than I am going to become the best damn soul reaper in the entire Court Guard Squads, no, the entire Seireitei._ It was then I heard it: a howl that was quickly joined by another one, the pitch indicating they are searching for something, or someone. As soon as the howling stopped, I stood up from my sitting position and put two fingers in my mouth. I blew, letting a high-pitched whistle escape. I blew harder, encouraging the sound to travel. When I ran out of breath I stopped, waiting for something that I needed to hear. And then I heard it. It was two howls again, but the pitch was different. _Good. They know my direction. I should get going._ _They'll catch up soon. _I took a quick sip of water that I had managed to find and take with me, before starting to run again. It was about two hours and three districts later that I heard footfalls behind me. I stopped, only to be tackled by something big.

I laughed as the being pinned me to the ground and licked my face repeatedly. "Toboe, get off. You're going to crush me," I whined, even though I was still laughing. He got off obediently and stood beside Tsume. Tsume is a large grey wolf with silver markings and bright gold eyes. When we both stood, my head only reached his neck, that's how big he is. Toboe is smaller, his head reaching my own. His fur is a pretty reddish-brown color and his eyes are light brown, almost amber. I had found them a couple years ago when they were injured and gave them food. When they were healed, Toboe refused to leave, and Tsume just stuck with him. "We're going to Seireitei," I announced. The looked at me with wide eyes, since they knew I hated soul reapers. "I promised my mom," I explained. They nodded before Tsume walked over to stand sideways in front of me. I knew what he wanted so I climbed onto his back, fisting my hands in his grey fur as he took off running, Toboe beside him. I scooted backwards before laying my head on his broad shoulders. I fell asleep to his rhythmic gait and steady heartbeat.

**%#%#%#%**

For the next four days we followed the same pattern: running, stopping for lunch and dinner before running again. _In one more day, the entrance exams will be over. We have to make it. We cannot fail._ Tsume ran through the night, only stopping to allow me to transfer to Toboe occasionally.

**%#%#%#%**

_The entrance exams end this afternoon._ "Hurry, Tsume. We have to make it on time," I said, encouraging him to go faster, and he did. It was noon when we finally reached the end of North Rukon district 1. I got off of Tsume and headed toward Seireitei. All of a sudden, a gigantic wall came down, almost crushing me. "Hey, what's the big idea?! You almost squashed me!" I yelled at the wall. Yes, it was silly to be yelling at an inanimate object, but come on, seriously?

"Excuse me, but are you trying to get in to the Seireitei?" a voice asked behind me. Per my orders, Tsume and Toboe had disappeared so they wouldn't get seen. I turned around to see a girl standing behind me. She was taller than me with dark hair pinned up in a bun and covered with a cloth with bangs hanging down the side of her face. Her eyes were large and brown, giving her an innocent look, but I could see the sadness and pain hidden deep. She was dressed in a standard soul reaper uniform, a plain black shihakushō and a zanpakutō sitting at her waist.

"Yes, I'm going to take the exam to apply for the Soul Reaper Academy," I replied, knowing she could lead me to where I had to go.

"Well, if you don't mind, I could show you where the academy is. That were the exams are being held," the girl said as she walked to the wall. I felt her spiritual pressure flare and a few seconds later a door appeared in the wall. "Well, come on. As long as you're with me, you'll be allowed to enter the Seireitei," she said. I nodded and followed her in through the door. As soon as we passed through, though, my guide stopped to stare at the soul reaper in front of us. This one had long blond hair that brushed his jaw with bangs across his forehead, the right side longer than the left and brown eyes. Over his standard shihakushō he wore a white coat which I recognized as a captains haori. His zanpakutō hung at his waist.

"What's this, Momo? I didn't think you'd be one to bring strangers into the Seireitei, even if she does appear to have a good amount of spirit energy," he said. The girl, Momo, bowed deep before speaking.

"I-I'm sorry, captain, but she said she was here to take the entrance exams, so-"

"I'm just teasing you, no need to be so upset," he said, grinning.

"Y-yes sir," she replied and I could see the tension draining from her stance.

"And just who do you have with you? She's quite the cutie," he said, flash-stepping so he was in front of me. He looked me up and down, noticing my eyebrow twitching.

"If you don't back away right now, I won't hesitate to punch you," I ground out, my hands fisted as this guy only leaned forward even more. He either didn't hear me, though I was perfectly clear, or he didn't care. Either way… _1… 2… 3!_ I punched him right in the jaw. He didn't expect it and as such got pushed back by at least four inches.

"Oh, captain!" Momo cried, running to the blond guy who was holding his cheek. I smirked as I crossed my arms across my chest.

"What the hell was that for?!" he cried.

"You were getting to close. I told you if you didn't back away, I would punch you," I said matter-of-factly.

"God, you're just like Hiyori!" he yelled. We were getting close again as we argued back and forth.

"Um, excuse me, but if you want to make it to the exams, you should hurry, they're almost over," Momo said.

"That's right, the exams! But … I … don't know where to go, exactly," I said, scratching the back of my neck.

"Don't worry 'bout it. I'll show you the way to the academy. Momo, go back to the squad and make sure everything is alright," he said, directing the last part of his sentence to Momo.

"Alright," she said before disappearing.

"Now, let's get going, shall we?" he asked. I only nodded and followed him.

**%#%#%#%**

By the time we made it to the academy, I had learned that his name is Shinji Hirako and he is the captain of Squad 5. The girl with us before was Momo Hinamori and she was the Lieutenant of Squad 5.

"Well, here we are. I wish you good luck, Kurai Kiri," he said before disappearing. I looked at the doors to the academy. _Well, I made it. It's time to see if I can become a soul reaper._ And with that, I pushed open the doors and walked inside.

**%#%#%#%**

"Congratulations, young lady. You've passed the entrance exams. Here is your room number, room key and schedule. You start tomorrow and there are clean clothes already in your room. If they don't fit, come see a teacher and we'll get you new ones," the instructor said. I thanked him before heading to my room. I opened the door to see a mousy little girl sitting on the bed. She had light brown hair that was slightly darker than mine and bright green eyes. She jumped up and started shaking my hand so hard I thought it was going to fall off.

"Hi, I'm Kotori. Kotori Hikō. I'm your new roommate. What's your name?" Kotori asked.

"Kurai Kiri," I answered as I started putting my stuff away. I took out a photograph I had managed to get out of the house. It was me, my mom, and my dad in the fall. The leaves behind us were beautiful shades of red, orange and gold, with a little bit of pink mixed in. I set it on the nightstand next to my bed.

"Are those your parents?" Kotori asked quietly. I nodded.

"How did they-"

"A hollow," I cut her off, not yet wanting to hear the end of that sentence.

"Is that why you chose to become a soul reaper?" she asked. I nodded again, looking at the asauchi that I had picked up on my way out the door. It was the same as all the others, except for one thing: there was a tiny crack in the guard. I sighed before lying on my bed.

"It's late, Kotori, we should get to bed, we have a big day ahead of us," I said.

"Right!" she said, pumping her fist into the air before settling down. _Well mom, dad, I'm a soul reaper now. I hope I did the right thing. I'll visit as soon as I can, okay? Promise._ And then I fell asleep.

**%#%#%#%**

**Okay! Sorry 'bout the long wait but it's kind of hard to write when I fell like no one appreciates this. I know I only posted one chapter so far (Two now) but it is nice to know that at least you guys are reading this, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm not going to ask you to review or anything 'cause I know so authors push you to review, but do what you want (Not to sound rude or anything, sorry). See you next time, maybe. Later peeps.**

**Kotori Hikō= 'little bird' 'flying'**

**Kurai Kiri= 'dark' 'mist'**

**Kurai Ame= 'dark' 'rain'**

**~ShadowWolf**


	3. Chapter 3

**Yo! I would like to thank Vvolley and YingWhiteyWolf for following **Kaminari no muchi- Lightning Whip. **I apologize for the late update; I was really busy this weekend. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. To all you mothers out there: happy late mother's day, and all you guys who are not mothers and are reading this: make sure you told them happy mother's day. All right, that's all I have to say. On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Toboe or Tsume; they belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. **

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

'_Speaking in head' (i.e. to her zanpakutō)_

Emphasis

'_**Zanpakutō speaking' **_

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Chapter 3: Squad Seven

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"Kuuuurrrrraaaiiiiiiii! You're late!" a voice yelled in my ear. I jumped, startled at her sudden approach. The book I was reading snapped shut with a dull 'thud'. "And now I'm late as well because I had to come find you!" Kotori complained.

"Well I never asked you to come find me, now did I?" I asked, a smirk playing at my lips. I never really smiled much anymore, not since my parents died. The only people who were ever able to really get me to smile were Kotori, Momo, and Renji, the Squad 6 Lieutenant. One time Momo brought him with her when she snuck into the Academy to see how I was doing, even though I told her that since she was a Lieutenant, she could just walk in through the front door. She never did. This of course just allowed me to become even more hated than I usually was. About half the school respected me and looked up to me; they thought it was cool that I already knew a captain and two lieutenants while still in the academy. The other half were jealous and hated the fact that I knew them and was friends with them; they thought I was bribing the teachers to give me high grades by saying I was friends with them. What a lie. I was just really good in school. I was great in hakuda (hand to hand combat) and hohō (adv: Flash Step) and average in zanjustu (Sword fighting) and kidō (Spells).

"Come on, Kurai, we've got to go!" Kotori said again. She grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet before dragging me to wherever we had to be. After only two years, we were graduating. I could've graduated last year, but I decided not too so I could stay with Kotori. Now she was able to graduate early as well, so we decided to graduate this year together. The teachers said we were geniuses, even though out of the two of us, I was the one who would be graduating without first having learned my zanpakutō's name.

"Do you really have to drag me?" I grumbled as I held onto my book, afraid that it was going to fall out of my hands while my only friend (in the academy) dragged me off.

**%#%#%#%**

We were running to the auditorium were graduation was being held for the sixth year students… and us. We burst in through the door none too quietly, literally arriving with a bang. I guess it suited me, since I was a pyrotechnic myself. I was an expert in all things relating to fire: from bombs (not that we ever used them, but just in case) to fireworks.

"Sorry we're late. I was… uh… caught up… in… something?" my sentence ended in a question, making me even more embarrassed.

"Just sit down, you two, we just started," the instructor said. We nodded and took the only open seats we could find. The … ceremony… thing continued and soon he was calling out names to collect the letter that held what squad we got into. Eventually he got to the 'H's'. "Hikō, Kotori,"he said. She walked up and took the letter. Kotori bowed to the audience before returning to her seat. More names were called before mine was called as well. "Kiri, Kurai," he said. I walked up and copied what Kotori did. Eventually the ceremony ended and we were dismissed to our rooms with the direction to pack up and leave for our new squads' tomorrow morning. We all ran back to our rooms.

As soon as Kotori and I slammed the door closed we hopped onto our beds.

"Ready?" she asked, holding her sealed letter in front of her. I nodded.

"1… 2… 3!" I yelled as we both ripped open our letters. I read the letter over and couldn't help but grin.

'Congratulations Kurai Kiri. You have successfully passed the entire Soul Reaper Academy curricular in a single year. You had decided not to graduate and therefore, waited another year to graduate. This is well deserved and I wish you great luck in your new squad. They will be lucky to have you. I hope you can connect to your zanpakutō and learn its name. Good luck.'

Final Assessment: (Out of five)

Hakuda: 4

Hohō: 4.5

Zanjustu: 3.5

Kidō: 3.5

Your assigned squad: Squad 7

Captain: Sajin Komamura

Lieutenant: Tetsuzaemon Iba

'Report to your new squad barracks tomorrow at nine in the morning.'

"What squad did you get into?" Kotori asked.

"Squad 7. What about you?" I asked.

"I got into Squad 10. I heard my new captain finished the academy in a single year as well, Kurai. They call him the child genius, 'cause he's still kind of short," she said. I hummed in acknowledgement as I started packing. Soon, Kotori began packing as well.

"Goodnight," I called.

"Goodnight, Kurai. See you in the morning," Kotori answered. And then we fell asleep.

**%#%#%#%**

_I stood in the middle of a very large and familiar clearing surrounded by tall, lush trees. The grass was soft beneath my bare feet and slightly warm. There was a large lake at the far end of the clearing. This place was amazing, beautiful. But the most amazing part was the sky. There were thick, fluffy dark grey clouds that showered rain on me, but I didn't get wet at all. I could hear the thunder, thrumming gently, as if the sky was purring. Occasionally, silver- blue- white lightning would flash across the sky in a beautiful dance, moving in beat to the thunder. Even though the sky was dark, this place was still bright, and I could see all the bright colors this place had to offer. _

_But something was different. The forest surrounding the clearing was so dark that I could hardly see into it. I knew what had caused that darkness. The death of my parents caused that darkness, but it was less dark than it used to be. I knew that I was slowly healing from their deaths, the fact that that part of the forest was no longer completely dark proved it, and I owed it all to Kotori, Momo and Renji… and __him__, the owner of those glowing turquoise eyes that had given me food when I needed it two years ago. 'I still dream of those eyes, even after all this time. I thought that if I became a soul reaper, I would be able to find him. But so far I was only an academy student. Until recently.' A loud thud interrupted my thoughts. _

_I turned and gasped. Standing in front of me was the largest nine-tailed fox I had ever seen. It was taller than the tress and the clearing seemed to grow just to fit its massive size. It growled before opening its mouth… as if it were trying to speak to me. But I couldn't hear him above the noise of the thunder that decided to become louder. He was beautiful (and I just know it's a he) with bright dark orange fur. He had thick black markings around his eyes that stretched up into his long ears and glowing red eyes with slit pupils. He was powerful and dangerous, I knew that, but I also knew he wouldn't hurt me, because… he was my zanpakutō._

"_I'm sorry, but I can't hear you," I said. He looked at me disappointedly. This was my first time seeing him and I couldn't even hear him. Before I could do anything else, I woke up._

**%#%#%#%**

"Uhh," I groaned as I fell out of bed with a thud. Even two years later and I still couldn't shake that habit. Once, Kotori had even secretly tied me to the bed! I woke up that morning, on the floor, surrounded by rope. When Kotori woke up, she just stared at me, and all throughout the day, I would catch her mumbling to herself, wondering how I got out of the rope when I was still asleep. To this day we still don't know, so we just decided to let my body be.

"Come on, Kurai, we've got to get ready so we can go to our new squads!" Kotori squealed. I only nodded and proceeded to get dresses, still half asleep. Two shihakushōs had been delivered sometime during the night with a letter saying that more in our size would be delivered to our squad. I stripped out of my pajamas, not the slightest bit uncomfortable around Kotori. She already knew about my fox attributes anyway.

**%#%#%#%**

_(Flashback)_

_It's been one week since I arrived at the soul reaper academy. I was walking back into my room from sneaking out to see Toboe and Tsume. Given that I was practically half-fox, all of my senses were heightened, plus the fact that I was living as a thief in the Rukon distric, allowed me to blend in perfectly with the shadows. I gently closed the door behind me and stood next to my bed, facing my back towards Kotori's sleeping form. I was tired so I didn't bother to actually check to see if she was sleeping before I started getting undressed, revealing my fox tail and ears. All I heard was a quiet gasp before feeling a hand start to stroke my ears. I had dived under the covers immediately, hiding my form from Kotori. "It's alright, Kurai. I won't hurt you. I think it's cool that you have animal ears." I didn't respond to her. "Hey, did you know that Captain Komamura is actually a really huge wolf-like person? He's got a wolf's head and ears… and fur too! He's the captain of Squad 7," she said softly. I slowly made my way out from under the blankets, seeing that she wasn't the type to judge based on appearances. Kotori handed me a pair of pajamas and I put them on. From then on, we were inseparable, and Kotori never told another soul about what she had seen that night. I also decided that night, that I was going to be a part of Squad 7._

_(Flashback End)_

**%#%#%#%**

I wrapped my tail around my right leg before slipping on the bottom part of the shihakushō. I tied it at my waist before grabbing a new roll of bandages. I wrapped my chest (which had gotten slightly bigger over the past two years) and torso before slipping on the top part, wrapping it around the front of my body and tucking it into my pants. I opened the front to reveal my bandaged chest and stomach. I attached my zanpakutō to my back, the crimson sash falling across my chest. I pulled my hair into a high side ponytail on my left and tied it with a black ribbon. Then I put on two necklaces: one was a pearly white flower with five roundish petals that ended in little rounded points. There were five more petals, slightly bigger, just behind them and four tiny sapphires in the middle. There were lined etched into the petals, giving them a natural look. The flower hung on a platinum braided chain. The other necklace was a red orange leaf on a simple silver chain. The flower necklace had been given to me from my parents. The leaf one was from Kotori for one of my birthdays. The flower necklace was long enough to disappear into the bandages. The leaf one hung right between my collar bones.

"Alright, let's get going," I said as I started walking towards the door with my bag in my hand.

"Wait!" Kotori yelled. I turned back around raising an eyebrow in a questioning look.

"Here, you almost forgot this," she said, handing me a dark blue bandanna with white lightning bolts. I smiled and tied it over my fox ears tightly.

"Thanks," I said. We walked out together and as soon as we made it to Squad 7, she said goodbye and continued to Squad 10 with the promise that we would talk to each other soon.

**%#%#%#%**

I looked around and saw a group of people surrounding the person I knew was my new Lieutenant. A picture of the lieutenants had been included so we could easily find them. He had black hair cut in an unusual haircut and wore black glasses. He had a slight mustache and his chest was bandaged like mine, with his shihakushō opened a little. I walked over just in time to hear what he was going to say.

"Alright here's how it's going to work: one at a time you'll face off against me," he said. He saw their faces and corrected himself. "I'll be holding back, don't worry. By the way, if you didn't already know, I'm Tetsuzaemon Iba, the Lieutenant of Squad 7. Any questions?" Lieutenant Iba asked. A boy raised his hand. "Go on, you don't have to raise your hand, you're not in the academy anymore."

"Uh, sir, are there any rules to this fight?" I recognized him. It was Hisoka, one of the sixth year students. He was okay, a little timid though.

"No rules. You are allowed to use anything at your disposal. That includes anything they taught you at the academy, including using your shikai. Since all of you are sixth year, you must've all learned your zanpakutō's name by now," Lt. Iba said. No one tried to correct him. "All right, follow me." We did.

**%#%#%#%**

Five fights later and I was the only one left. I stepped up and stood in front of the lieutenant. I heard gasps and it was then I realized that nobody had even know I was there, save for maybe the lieutenant himself. I was good at hiding my spiritual energy after all.

"Looks like you're the last one. What's your name, girl?" he asked.

"Kurai Kiri," I replied, drawing my zanpakutō and holding it in front of me. I waited.

"Aren't you going to release your zanpakutō? You must've seen how easily I took out the others," he said.

"Uh, sir? Kurai graduated early after only two years at the academy, but she hasn't learned her zanpakutō's name yet," Hisoka said.

"So you're the new child genius I heard about. I heard you could've graduated in one year, yet you stayed. This should be interesting." He sprang at me with his zanpakutō drawn. We fought and I quickly realized I would be able to defeat him with strength. So I used shunpo, which I was the only one in my class that was able to even reach that level, to literally run circles around him. I was a blur and I used it to my advantage. I landed multiple lacerations everywhere on his body, though they were very shallow. He thrust his sword out and knocked mine out of my hand. It landed on the ground with a thud, but I didn't even flinch. I immediately started attacking him with hakuda, hand-to-hand combat. After a few minutes he called the fight.

"Very good. I can see why you were allowed to graduate so early. I'm placing you as our new 7th seat. Congratulations Kurai," he said and everyone started clapping. I nodded in thanks and retrieved my zanpakutō. I followed everyone else as Lt. Iba led us to our new rooms.

"Good job, Kurai," Hisoka said to me.

"Thanks. This is your room," I said, since he obviously missed that part of what Lt. Iba was saying. He scratched his cheek and said good night before disappearing into his room. I was the last one since I had gotten the highest position out of all of us. I slipped into my room and put on pajamas. Then I set my zanpakutō next to my bed before climbing into it and falling asleep.

**%#%#%#%**

**Sorry this took so long, but to make it up to you guys I made it really long, almost 3,000 words. Yay! See you this weekend! **

**Later peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf**


	4. Chapter 4

**Yo! I'mmmmm baaaaaccckkkkk! *Gives creepy grin ;P*. First, "I'm soooooooooooooooooooooo, soooooooooooooooo, soooooooooooooo sorry for this very, very, very late update! I left for Florida literally one hour after I got home on Friday (May 16****th****) from a field trip. My plane didn't leave 'till midnight 'cause it was delayed by the storm. Then I didn't get back 'till 12 in the morning on Wednesday/Thursday (May 21****st****/22****nd****) and all on the trip, I had no way to write, so I apologize. I was also playing catch up with the work that I missed from school, so yeah (it was a looooootttttttt of work). Then, this Friday (June 6****th****) I had a field trip, then Saturday (June 7****th****) I went to the AnimeNEXT convention in New Jersey, then on Sunday (June 8****th****) I went with my grandma and aunt to a play. Also, I started a new … club… thing… so ya. That's at 6 and goes to 7:30 three nights a week, so I might not update during the week but I will do my best to update on the weekends. But I know that this is no excuse so, I'm sorry. I would like to thank the following people for following, reviewing or favoring:**

**Aryabloodlust **

**Tristhiet **

**Tsukino Aisuru - A **

**Vvolley **

**YingWhiteyWolf **

** KAT roth 54 **

**pinkypunkful**

**Karin Hyuuga **

**alexma**

**Infinity69**

**Battle-Royalist**

**Thank you so much! I hope you continue to support me, Kurai and Kotori. We appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Toboe or Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. Also, if you want to see what Toboe and Tsume look like, just google them. They belong to an anime called Wolf's Rain and I tried to make them look as close as possible. I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

'_Speaking in head' (i.e. to her zanpakutō)_

Emphasis

'_**Zanpakutō speaking'**_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 4: A Reunion With A Third Seat

**%#%#%#%**

"Captain, here are those papers you wanted," I called as I entered the office. Captain Komamura was standing by the window looking out. I placed the papers on the desk and stood there, waiting for him to say something or dismiss me. It's been two and a half years since I joined Squad 7 and they are all very nice to me. No one ever said anything about me not knowing my zanpakutō's name since the first person who did so wound up in Squad 4 for five days. It's been four and a half years since my parents were killed by that hollow, and every day I can feel my soul healing itself a little more thanks to my friends. I still stay in touch with Momo, Renji, and Kotori. I had proved myself since becoming a part of Squad 7 and had gotten promoted to 3rd seat only about four months ago. I was proud of myself for getting this far using only hakuda, shunpo, kido and basic zanjustu. I was not, however, allowed to go on any dangerous missions due to the fact that I could not wield my zanpakutō to even a fraction of its power. _I wonder why it is that I am unable to hear my zanpakutō's name._ I was snapped out of my thoughts when the Captain spoke up.

"Do you ever wish to be free, Kurai?" he asked. I was… stumped. I had never been asked a question like that before and was unsure how to respond.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I don't understand," I spoke quietly.

"Your ears and tail, don't you ever want to just stop covering them?" he asked. Yeah, the Captain knew my secret, he could smell it as soon as we were introduced. He promised me he wouldn't tell anyone unless I wanted him to and I believed him.

"All the time sir," I answer honestly. He turned toward me.

"Then why do you still cover them? You must know by now that no one in this squad will see you differently because of it," he said.

"I know that sir. But even if I did uncover them, it wouldn't change anything. I'll never be free until I can kill a certain someone," I replied, my head bowed. He didn't say anything and when I looked at him, he looked slightly confused. My eyes widened as I realized it. "The Head-Captain never told you about me, did he? I thought he would have, seeing as I'm in your squad." He just continued to look confused so I explained. "My real name isn't Kurai Kiri. It's Kurai Ame. My father was Tama Ame, the former Captain of Squad 3 from over 120 years ago before he got promoted to the Royal Guard. My mother was Nanomi, his Lieutenant, who followed him to the Royal Guard. They were killed four and a half years ago by a hollow. That is the reason I became a soul reaper in the first place, to make sure that no more families are ruined because of hollows."

"Your father was Tama Ame? I had heard stories about him, but he was retired by the time I became a Captain. But if he was a member of the Royal Guard, how could he have been killed by a mere hollow, even if he was surprised by it?" Captain asked.

"I suspect that he and my mother both were really killed by an enemy of theirs, the reason he wanted me to change my name, and then the hollow showed up hoping to devour their souls while they were weak," I said. "But…"

"But what? What happened then Kurai?" Captain Komamura asked.

"A soul reaper killed the hollow before I had gotten back home. I know this because I could still feel traces of his spiritual pressure when I got there," I said. "That and the fact that my parents were still alive. Severely hurt, but alive. They died soon after my mom made me promise to become a soul reaper."

"I see. I will not speak of this to anyone else. Do any of the other captains know?" asked the captain.

"Just the Head-Captain. I don't know if I will tell anyone else yet," I said.

"Very well. By the way, don't you have a meeting to attend to soon?" the captain asked.

"Yep," I replied easily, popping the 'p'. Silence. Then, "Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late! Kotori's sooooo going to kill me! Bye Captain!" I yelled as I ran out the door. The only response I got was a chuckle and a shaking of a furry head.

**%#%#%#%**

I flashed stepped to mine and Kotori's meeting place: the Shinigami Women's Association meeting room located in the Kuchiki family manor. However, unlike the S.W.A., Kotori and I had something they did not: permission. Oh yeah, you heard me. We got permission from Captain Kuchiki to use this room! I had met him one time while going to see Renji and had noticed he had a problem with the S.W.A. members. So I flushed them out. Too bad they just constructed another room in a different location in the manor. But, in reward for trying (and partially succeeding), me and Kotori were granted access to this room provided we stay quiet, very quiet. I stepped into the manor grounds and the guards nodded to me. I came here often either to meet Kotori, Renji and I even sometimes came here to see the Captain. Apparently, I was one of the few soul reapers he could stand. We would sit and drink tea and talk about casual things. He also knew about my fox attributes. He didn't know anything about my father though.

I used shunpo to get to the meeting room quicker. I ran into the room and stood there panting, looking at Kotori who was lightly glaring at me with her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing the standard soul reaper uniform and her zanpakutō strapped to her waist. Her zanpakutō's name is Tokoya and her realease command is "Blast everything in your way". Tokoya is an ice/snow type, like Rukia's Sode no Shirayuki. Yeah, I met Rukia when I had to deliver some paperwork to Captain Ukitake. She's really nice, if not a little obsessed with Chappy the rabbit (I do not own Chappy). But I was disappointed because the Captain hadn't recognized me. I suppose it's not his fault. He is really sick and it's been a while since he's seen me so I don't blame him. I turned back to Kotori as she continued speaking. "…ork? Kurai, are you even listening to me?" Kotori asked, her glare turning hard then soft as she noticed the bags under my eyes. The past few days I hadn't been sleeping well.

"Sorry what were you saying?" I asked, rubbing a hand over my face tiredly. She sighed, and then started to repeat herself.

"I said, do you know how bad I feel leaving my Captain with all the paper work," Kotori had become the fifth seat in Squad 10 and occasionally helped out her captain with the paperwork since the Squad 10 Lieutenant was always out drinking or something, and both the third and fourth seats are kind of scared of their own Captain. So Kotori helped him when she finished her own paperwork.

"Sorry, Kotori, my Captain wanted to talk to me about something and I got completely sidetracked," I said as I sat on the tatami mat in the room.

"Transfer?" she asked.

"Transfer? Why would my Captain be transferring me? I may not know my zanpakutō's name yet, but I'm defiantly the fastest, save for Squad 2, and my hakuda abilities are better than even the Captain's. and even if there is going to be a transfer, how would you know about it? Usually lower seated officers below third don't know about things like this until it actually happens," I said, confusion leaking into my voice.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto talks in her sleep," she said nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders. "Anyway, Lieutenant Kira is requesting for a soul reaper with average-excellent skills for Squad 3. Since they don't have a captain, Lieutenant Kira is the only one really running the squad except for their 3rd seat, but still…"

"So you think that maybe Captain Komamura volunteered me to transfer? Like I said, I'm one of the best Squad 7 has and I worked hard to get where I am with only hakuda and shunpo. If I transferred anywhere I would be demoted because there are no openings for Lieutenant," I argued.

"Unless you think of it like this: Lieutenant Kira is in charge, so he's kind of like Squad 3's Captain. Then his 3rd seat would be like the Lieutenant. There is no current 4 th seat, so if it is you who transfers, and that's the position you get assigned, it would be like you never got demoted, ya know?" she explained.

"I see," I mused. An hour passed and we just talked about random, casual things. Then a hell butterfly flew in through one of the open windows. It flew toward me so I held out my finger for it to land. I listened to the message before I said, "Understood." I watched as the little black and pink butterfly flew away before I turned to Kotori. "My Captain needs me. Sorry. We should meet again soon and have lunch or something. I feel like I never see you anymore," I suggested.

"Yes! Oh, and we should invite Momo and Renji, too," she said excitedly.

"Alright. Bye Kotori," I said before I disappeared in a flash-step.

**%#%#%#%**

"You summoned me, Captain?" I asked. I appeared before him standing, since I bowed to no one and he knew that, even if he is my Captain.

**%#%#%#%**

**Yo! Sorry, this wasn't as long as I had hoped it would be. But you did get a little more information about Kurai, Tama, and Nanomi's past. Who would've guessed that they were ****both**** part of the Royal Guard? **** Anyway, cliff hanger! I am back on track (Finally!), so I should have the next chapter up within the week. If I don't: please, please, please yell at me! If you do, then I will have more incentive to get it done. Also, SUMMER VACATION IS ALMOST HERE! Well, for me anyway. So once that hits, I'll probably update more frequently. Until Chapter 5!**

**Tokoya= "Barber" in Japanese (Barber: a strong wind carrying damp snow or sleet and spray that freezes upon contact with objects)**

**Kurai Ame= "Dark Rain" in Japanese**

**Kurai Kiri= "Dark Mist" in Japanese**

**Kotori Hikō= "Little bird Flying"**

**Sode no Shirayuki= "Sleeved White Snow" in Japanese (Not to be rude, but this is just in case someone doesn't happen to know what 'Sode no Shirayuki' means and doesn't want to look it up in Wikipedia)**

**~ShadowWolf**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yo! ShadowWolf here! I'm sorry for the late update. Summer vacation officially starts Thursday at 10! Anyway, yesterday, June 24, was my birthday! I also got the best birthday present ****EVER**** from my parents and grandparents: my own laptop! So I was messing with it all day. But now I'm typing again! Thank you to all of the following:**

**Aryabloodlust **

**Tristhiet **

**Tsukino Aisuru - A **

**Vvolley **

**YingWhiteyWolf **

** KAT roth 54 **

**pinkypunkful**

**Karin Hyuuga **

**alexma**

**Infinity69**

**Battle-Royalist**

**IDon'tFreakingKnowYou**

**Alright, let's get this show on the road, new laptop!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, Toboe or Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

'_Speaking in head' (i.e. to her zanpakutō)_

Emphasis

'_**Zanpakutō speaking' **_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 5: I Can't Freaking Believe This

**%#%#%#%**

"You summoned me, Captain?" I asked, appearing before him standing since I bowed to no one and he knew that, even if he is my Captain.

"Yes. I have very important news to tell you," he said.

"Okay…," I drawled.

"You're being transferred to Squad 3," he said. Silence. Then,

"WHAT?!" I screamed.

"Please, Kurai, keep your voice down," he growled, his paws covering his ears.

"Sorry, Captain, but why me?" I asked.

"Because they need stronger soul reapers since technically they have no Captain. You are the best choice. You're skilled, cunning, smart and even without knowing your zanpakutō's name, you're still one of the strongest we've ever seen. Lieutenant Kira is glad to know that a soul reaper of your caliber is joining his squad," he explained. I thought it over. I had nothing against Kira, I had even met him a few times when I had to deliver paperwork to him. He was actually quite nice, though a little… depressing.

"Very well. I'll do my best to serve Squad 3 as best I can," I gave in.

"Then you are to gather your things and report to Squad 3 barracks by sunset," Captain Komamura said.

"Yes, sir!" I said. I turned to leave, but stopped when he started to speak again.

"Kurai, I'm proud to call you my subordinate and wish you well in Squad 3," he said.

"Thank you, sir. It has been an honor to work under you and Lieutenant Iba," I said before flash-stepping to my room.

I packed all of my things into two boxes: one was all of my clothes and accessories, the other was full of nick-knacks and things from my past in the Rukon district that I managed to bring with me. Soon, I was walking through a forest with the two boxes in my arms on my way to Squad 3 barracks.

**%#%#%#%**

It was mid-afternoon by the time I got in front of the Squad 3 barracks. There were two soul reapers standing outside the entrance.

"Halt!" one commanded.

"Who goes there?" the other asked.

"I'm the new transfer here. Let me in," I demanded, my body relaxed yet ready to pounce if these two try anything. They eyed me as best they could with two boxes in my arms and I could've sworn I heard a feral growl in my head.

"Very well, but only because we already were told that a new transfer would be arriving," the first one said.

"But before that, how about you come see me later on? We could have a real good time, you and me," he said suggestively, gripping my arm so I couldn't get away. My spiritual pressure spiked, creating a silver-blue glow that surrounded my body. Electricity sparked along my right arm- the arm that the perverted soul reaper was gripping. He ripped his hand off with a hiss, very faint trail of smoke coming off of his hand where my electricity touched him.

"Don't touch me," I growled viciously. Then I walked into the barracks to meet my new superior.

**%#%#%#%**

The only thing that I've changed about my appearance since joining Squad 7 is my hair. Instead of the high ponytail I've kept it in, I twist my hair up and over itself and hold it in a silver colored clip with a silver hair pin decoration through it. The end of the pin has a bird with its wings outstretched and pointed down, a ½ ring over its head and a smaller bird in a heart in the first bird's center. Running down the length of the pin is a pattern of two thick wavy lines, one on top of each other and a small five petal flower alternating with each other. Over the cloth that I wrap over my fox ears is a pair of sunglasses I got in the world of the living. I located Lieutenant Kira's spiritual energy and walked toward it. Once I found the right door, I shifted the tow boxes to my left hand and knocked on the door with my right hand.

"Come in," came Lieutenant Kira's voice. I walked in after shifting the boxes back to two hands.

"Lieutenant Kira, Kurai Kiri, former 3rd seat of Squad 7, newly transferred," I announced.

"Hello, Kurai. I'm glad you are here. We could really use someone like you," Kira said. With those words I was transported to a different time and place.

**%#%#%#%**

_(Flashback)_

"_I'm not joining the academy," I said, my voice laced with annoyance at the statement._

"_Why not? Don't you want to become a soul reaper and use the power you have to help people?" he asked._

"_I'll never become a soul reaper." I vowed._

_(End of Flashback)_

**%#%#%#%**

I tried not to think of that day, four and a half years ago. The day I met that soul reaper with the deliciously frozen scent and the cold, glowing turquoise eyes. That was also the day my life took a 180 degree turn. It was painful for both reasons: my parents murder and the fact that every time I thought of that guy, I was filled with a burning desire to find out who he is- if he is even still a soul reaper, not to mention the fact that he might not even still be in the Soul Society. I tuned back to Lieutenant Kira to pay attention to what he was saying.

"Alright, if you would follow me, I'll show you to your room and I'll leave you to get settled," he said. I nodded and followed him to a door down the hall, right turn, and third door on the left. "This is you. I'll let you get settled in. You can meet the rest of the squad tomorrow," I nodded again and disappeared into my new room.

I looked around. It was kind of small, with one window, a bed underneath it, a nightstand and a closet. The floor was wood and cool beneath my bare feet. I walked over to the bed and put down the two boxes and started unpacking. I put my shihakushōs in the closet and spread my few possessions around the room. I put the picture of me and my parents under the fall trees on my nightstand. Just then, a Hell Butterfly flew in and landed on my shoulder. Kotori's voice came through in my head.

"Kurai, its Kotori. Momo, Renji, and I are going out for dinner tonight. You should come with us. We're going to that small restaurant in South Rukon district 2. The one that sells the dango (Sweet dumplings) you like. We'll be there at 5. Hopefully we will see you too." The message was finished. The butterfly, its purpose done, flew away. I looked at the time: 2:30 p.m. _I think I'll try meditating. Maybe I can see that fox again._ I sat down on the floor, crossed my legs and drew my zanpakutō. I carefully stuck the end of the blade in between the floor boards so that it stood up straight. I laid the dark blue sheath horizontal across my lap. I closed my eyes and emptied my mind, concentrating on only the image of the huge nine-tailed fox.

**%#%#%#%**

_I stood in the middle of a very large and familiar clearing surrounded by tall, lush trees. The grass was soft beneath my bare feet and slightly warm. There was a large lake at the far end of the clearing. This place was amazing, beautiful. But the most amazing part was the sky. There were thick, fluffy dark grey clouds that showered rain on me, but I didn't get wet at all. I could hear the thunder, thrumming gently, as if the sky was purring. Occasionally, silver- blue- white lightning would flash across the sky in a beautiful dance, moving in beat to the thunder. Even though the sky was dark, this place was still bright, and I could see all the bright colors this place had to offer. _

_The forest surrounding the clearing was so dark that I could hardly see into it. I knew what had caused that darkness. The death of my parents caused that darkness, but it was less dark than it used to be. I heard a loud thud from behind me. _

_I turned around and was only sort of surprised at what I saw. Standing in front of me was my zanpakutō spirit: the largest nine-tailed fox I had ever seen (and the only nine-tailed fox I had ever seen). It was taller than the tress and the clearing seemed to grow just to fit its massive size. He was beautiful (and I just know it's a he) with bright dark orange fur. He had thick black markings around his eyes that stretched up into his long ears and glowing red eyes with slit pupils. He was powerful and dangerous, I knew that, but I also knew he wouldn't hurt me, because he was my zanpakutō and I was his master._

_The giant fox lied down on his stomach, nine tails waving gently in the breeze. Like me, he wasn't getting wet from the rain that was always constant. I loved the rain and I guess that's why it was always raining. I walked up to him and he lowered his huge muzzle so I could look up into his eyes. I slowly approached and held out my hand. As I got closer he let out a quiet growl but I didn't stop. I reached forward and gently placed my hand on his muzzle. I slowly petted the fur and was surprised to feel how soft and silky it felt._

"_I'm sorry, I'm trying but I still don't think I will be able to hear you," I said regretfully. He huffed and I felt warm air being blown over me and I smiled despite myself. He opened his muzzle and I knew he was speaking but like I had predicted, I still couldn't hear him._

"_**You cannot hear me, kit, because you are not ready. Your soul is still filled with too much grief, fear, anger and the need for power and revenge. Only once you come to terms with your own strength **__**and**__** your weakness can you hear me,"**__ the great fox said, knowing his little kit still couldn't hear him._

_I looked up and saw the love in the great fox's eyes- love and faith that soon, I will be ready to hear his voice._

_I heard distant knocking and with one last pet to his muzzle, I was pulled out of my inner world._

**%#%#%#%**

"Kurai, we have a problem, let's go!" came Lieutenant Kira's voice. I grabbed my zanpakutō and ran out of the room, following behind Kira as we left the Squad 3 barracks.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" I asked.

"Momo, Renji, Kotori, and our 3rd seat were ambushed by a group of hollows in the Rukon district. We're going to provide help," he said.

"But Momo and Renji are Lieutenants and Kotori is a fifth seat, plus our 3rd seat is there. It doesn't sound like they need help," I explained.

"It's a group of Menos Grande so we are going as backup," Kira told me. _Kotori! Hold on, I'm coming! I refuse to let another one of my friends die because I was too weak!_

"Let's go, Lieutenant!" I said.

**%#%#%#%**

We arrived to see a group of five Menos Grande battling Momo, Renji and Kotori. Our 3rd seat was on the ground, not moving.

"Roar, Zabimaru!" Renji called, swiping his and down the length of his blade. It grew longer and wider, with six segments.

"Snap, Tobiume!" That was Momo. Her sword grew three side blades with flower designs engulfed in a pink fire.

"Blast everything in your way, Tokoya!" Kotori called. She held her sword in front of her. It didn't really change much. It grew longer and looked like it was covered in frost. She swung her sword and a sweeping wind blew from behind her and froze one of the Menos. Before it could get free, I had drawn my zanpakutō and was behind and on top of it. I slashed down through the layer of ice and cut the hollow in half. I landed and called to Kotori.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Kurai. Thanks for the help!" she called back. I flash-stepped over to them and heard what Renji was saying.

"We tried to save him, Izuru, but they caught us by surprise. I'm sorry," Renji apologized.

"Well, I guess we better get rid of these hollows then," Kira said.

"Right!" We all said at the same time. Then we all ran forward.

"Raise your head, Wabisuke!" Kira yelled out. We all ran toward one hollow and began taking them out one at a time. I stayed near the feet since I wouldn't be much help any other way. Soon there was only one left, but something was off. Even though it was still a Menos, it seemed…stronger… than the other ones.

"Argh!" Renji and Momo cried out. They were swatted back by the hollow's hand and they flew into a tree, getting knocked out, their zanpakutōs returning to their sealed forms.

"Momo, Renji!" Kotori called. She started running towards them and didn't see the massive foot that was coming down on her.

"No, Kotori!" I screamed as the foot came down, crushing Kotori underneath. I fell to my knees as the foot came back up. Kira flash-stepped to Kotori and her sealed zanpakutō, bringing them to Momo and Renji, both still unconscious. He turned around and got in a defensive stance, Wabisuke held in front of him. All I could do was stay there on my knees and stare at Kotori, Momo, and Renji's unconscious bodies. The Menos was coming closer to them and I could distantly hear Lieutenant Kira calling out to me but I was unresponsive. The hand came down and Lieutenant Kira was smashed into a different tree. He was still conscious but he couldn't move. The hollow scooped up Momo, Renji and Kotori, all three just now gaining consciousness.

"Kurai! Kurai, snap out of it! Kurai, you've got to help us!" Momo screamed at me. Still all I could do was stare at them, my eyes blank. _Why can't I move? I've got to help them! But, I'm too weak. I couldn't save my friend and now, I can't save them either._

"_**You think you are weak? You are. Your heart and soul are filled with grief, anger, lust for power and revenge. It is because of these that you are unable to use me to our full potential. Let me ask you: why do you desire power?" a voice spoke in my mind.**_

"_I used to desire power so that I could kill __him__. But now, all I want is the strength to protect my friends," I admitted. I felt… lighter. I no longer felt a heaviness over my heart and I knew that that dark part of my forest just got a little bit lighter._

"_**Then pick up your sword and call out my name! Call out to me, and release my power! My name is…."**_

I opened my eyes and stood up. I grabbed my zanpakutō and held it in front of me horizontally. Kotori and the rest were about ¾ to the hollows mouth. I closed my eyes and my spiritual pressure flared sky-high. A silver- blue glow crackling with electricity surrounded me, kicking up dust into a cloud, hiding me from sight. I felt all five pairs of eyes on me, even though they couldn't see me. Then I sprang.

The dust cloud kind of followed me as I flash-stepped so that I was right next to the hollow's arm when it hit the ground. I heard a thud beside me and knew that Kotori and the others were set free. The cloud cleared, allowing them to see me.

"Pounce upon your prey and tear out their throats, Kaminari Kitsune!" I called out. Instead of holding my normal zanpakutō which had, up until now, stayed in its sealed form, I was holding a silver whip with little foxes in various battle positions all down its length. Everyone stared at my released zanpakutō, all jaws on the ground. I smirked as I said, "Kaminari no muchi." Silver- blue lightning was now crackling all along my whip, which I had just used to cut off the hollow's arm since the end was razor sharp. Then I sprang up into the air and called out another attack, "Kaminari ryū!" I swung my whip and a dragon made of lightning came from the tip and tore through the Menos' torso with my guidance. It disappeared and I fell back to the ground breathing heavily. Kaminari Kitsune returned to his sealed form and I would've fallen to the ground if Kotori hadn't caught me.

"Are you… alright?" I asked her.

"Am I? Kurai, look at you! Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I …finally…was able to save…someone I…cared about," I said, my eyes closing.

"Kurai!" Kotori screamed.

"Don't worry, she's just exhausted. She'll be fine after she rests," Lieutenant Kira explained.

"Kurai, I just want you to know, I'm proud of you," she whispered. "And I know for a fact that your parents would be too if they could see you."

"_**Rest kit. You'll need it if you're going to try to master **__**me**__**." Kaminari Kitsune said in my mind.**_

I only smiled, proud of myself for what I had accomplished and I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that wherever they are, my parents are proud of me too.

**%#%#%#%**

**Yo! Chapter 5 is up! I had so much fun writing this, I was literally on the edge of my seat. I can't even imagine what all of you are feeling. Well, until Chapter 6! **

**Kaminari Kitsune- "Lightning Fox" or "Thunder Fox" (Can be used both ways)**

**Kaminari no muchi- "Lightning Whip"**

**Kaminari ryū- "Lightning Dragon" **

**Later peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yo! I'd like to thank the following for reviewing, following, and/or favoring:**

**Aryabloodlust **

**Tristhiet **

**Tsukino Aisuru - A **

**Vvolley **

**YingWhiteyWolf **

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**pinkypunkful**

**Karin Hyuuga **

**alexma**

**Infinity69**

**Battle-Royalist**

**IDon'tFreakingKnowYou**

**Alright, let's get this party started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Toboe and Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. . I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

'_Thoughts within flashbacks/dreams/inner world'_

"_Speaking in head" (i.e. to her zanpakutō) _

'_**Zanpakutō speaking' **_

Emphasis/Sarcasm

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 6: No Way in Fucking Hell

**%#%#%#%**

"When is she going to wake up? She's been like this for days now," a voice complained, in a very high pitched whiney voice. I mentally moaned. _Why are people always so noisy in the hospital? Wait, hospital? Why am I in the hospital?_ I knew I was in the hospital because of my enhanced sense of smell, I could smell the disinfectant a mile away. If my eyes were open, they'd be watering from the strong, sharp smell. Then the memories came back.

**%#%#%#%**

_(Flashback)_

_Lieutenant Kira was smashed into a different tree. He was still conscious but he couldn't move. The hollow scooped up Momo, Renji and Kotori, all three just now gaining consciousness._

"_Kurai! Kurai, snap out of it! Kurai, you've got to help us!" Momo screamed at me. Still all I could do was stare at them, my eyes blank. 'Why can't I move? I've got to help them! But, I'm too weak. I couldn't save my friend and now, I can't save them either.'_

"_**You think you are weak? You are. Your heart and soul are filled with grief, anger, lust for power and revenge. It is because of these that you are unable to use me to our full potential. Let me ask you: why do you desire power?" a voice spoke in my mind.**_

"_I used to desire power so that I could kill __him__. But now, all I want is the strength to protect my friends," I admitted. I felt… lighter. I no longer felt a heaviness over my heart and I knew that that dark part of my forest just got a little bit lighter._

"_**Then pick up your sword and call out my name! Call out to me, and release my power! My name is…."**_

_I opened my eyes and stood up. I grabbed my zanpakutō and held it in front of me horizontally. Kotori and the rest were about ¾ to the hollows mouth. I closed my eyes and my spiritual pressure flared sky-high. A silver- blue glow crackling with electricity surrounded me, kicking up dust into a cloud, hiding me from sight. I felt all five pairs of eyes on me, even though they couldn't see me. Then I sprang._

_The dust cloud kind of followed me as I flash-stepped so that I was right next to the hollow's arm when it hit the ground. I heard a thud beside me and knew that Kotori and the others were set free. The cloud cleared, allowing them to see me._

"_Pounce upon your prey and tear out their throats, Kaminari Kitsune!" I called out. Instead of holding my normal zanpakutō which had, up until now, stayed in its sealed form, I was holding a silver whip with little foxes in various battle positions all down its length. Everyone stared at my released zanpakutō, all jaws on the ground. I smirked as I said, "Kaminari no muchi." Silver- blue lightning was now crackling all along my whip, which I had just used to cut off the hollow's arm since the end was razor sharp. Then I sprang up into the air and called out another attack, "Kaminari ryū!" I swung my whip and a dragon made of lightning came from the tip and tore through the Menos' torso with my guidance. It disappeared and I fell back to the ground breathing heavily. Kaminari Kitsune returned to his sealed form and I would've fallen to the ground if Kotori hadn't caught me._

_(End of Flashback)_

**%#%#%#%**

"_**Now you remember, kit?" Kaminari Kitsune said**__ as I was pulled into my inner world. I was always amazed at how beautiful this place was, no matter how many times I saw it. I turned and there he was- Kaminari Kitsune- my zanpakutō. He was laying on his stomach in the same position I last saw him in. I laughed as I ran up to him and wrapped my arm around his muzzle in a hug. I was just so glad to finally be able to hear his voice._

"_**As am I, kit," he said**__ as he tossed his muzzle into the air. I screamed as I slid off since I hadn't been holding on tight enough for that. I then landed in the space between his two long, furry ears on the top of his forehead. His laughter vibrated throughout his body as I clutched onto his fur as hard as I could so that I wouldn't fall off._

"_**I would never let you fall, kit. Unless, of course…" he trailed off, a hint of smug, suggestiveness/teasing present in is voice.**_

"_Unless…what?" I asked warily._

"_**Unless, of course, you were to fall for that teal-eyed soul reaper. But I'd have to test him first to make sure he's worthy," he teased.**__ My face turned red._

"_I can't fall for a guy I haven't met yet, Inari*! Besides, I don't even know where or __who__ he is let alone know what the rest of him looks like!" I exclaimed. *Nickname for Kaminari Kitsune (Kam__inari__ Kitsune)_

"_**Then I guess you'll just have to find him," he said.**_

"_Ha, good luck with __that__," I said sharply. I felt a hand shake my shoulder._

"_**Go on, kit. They're waiting for you. Now that you can hear me, all you need to do is call my release command and my name to activate Shikai," he explained.**_

"_I know that," I said matter-of-factly. Then I disappeared from my inner world._

**%#%#%#%**

I blinked open my eyes to see Kotori and a lady I've never seen before hovered above me.

"Uh, guys? Ever heard of something called personal space?" I asked sarcastically.

"She's okay!" Kotori cheered.

"Of course she is," the lady I've never seen before said to Kotori. She has short, messy silver hair with two strands braided on the front right side of her head and grey eyes. She is wearing the standard soul reaper shihakushō with a Lieutenant's badge on her left arm.

"I suppose you're the Lieutenant of Squad 4?" I directed the question at said silver-haired soul reaper.

"Yep! I'm Isane Kotetsu. It's nice to meet you, Kurai," she said. _Well, she __seems__ friendly enough._

"I was so worried about you! You were asleep for three days straight!" Kotori exclaimed.

"Well, I did just unlock my zanpakutō. That tends to drain someone's spiritual energy, especially since it was my first time," I said sarcastically. Kotori only narrowed her eyes at me.

"Anyway Kurai, you're free to go whenever you like," Lt. Kotetsu said. I nodded and shooed them out so that I can get dressed. Luckily, my tail and ears were still covered so Lt. Kotetsu didn't see anything. _Thank you, Kotori._ I wrapped my tail around my right leg before slipping on the bottom part of my shihakushō. I tied it at my waist before grabbing a new roll of bandages. I wrapped my chest and torso before slipping on the top part, wrapping it around the front of my body and tucking it into my pants. I opened the front to reveal my bandaged chest and stomach (Like Lt. Iba). I attached Kaminari Kitsune to my back, the crimson sash falling across my chest. I twisted my hair into its clip and put the pin through it. I wrapped the dark blue cloth over my fox ears and slipped on the pair of sunglasses. Then I put on my two necklaces: one was a pearly white flower with five roundish petals that ended in little rounded points. There were five more petals, slightly bigger, just behind them and four tiny sapphires in the middle. There were lined etched into the petals, giving them a natural look. The flower hung on a platinum braided chain. The other necklace was a red orange leaf on a simple silver chain. The flower necklace had been given to me from my parents. The leaf one was from Kotori for one of my birthdays. The flower necklace was long enough to disappear into the bandages. The leaf one hung right between my collar bones. I made the bed and cleaned up the room before leaving.

**%#%#%#%**

(Time Skip 6 months)

"W-what?! A-are you s-s-sure, Lieutenant?" I asked disbelievingly. He only nodded his head with a small smile on his face.

"I'm quite sure, Kurai. I can't think of anyone better for the job," he said.

"B-but… What about our fifth seat?!" I asked.

"Ryou is a great soul reaper, but he's a follower, not a leader. He doesn't have the patience to deal with the younger soul reapers," Kira said.

"A-are you sure, Lieutenant Kira?" I asked again.

"Yes. Congratulations Kurai. I hear-by promote you to 3rd seat," he said.

"T-thank you sir," I said, my voice still stuttering. _Hear that, mom, dad? Just five years ago I was a street rat in the Rukon district and now, I've been promoted to 3__rd__ seat. Twice._ "I won't let you down sir," I said.

"Good. And Kurai, you can just call me Izuru," he said.

"Alright, s- Izuru," I said.

"Good, now, I have a mission for you," Izuru said. I waited for him to continue. "It seems that hollows have been showing up more frequently in the world of the living. A team is going to investigate and I recommended you to go as well. These past six months you have been working hard and training with your zanpakutō and I believe this will provide a good chance for you to gain more field experience in using you new-found abilities," he explained.

"Alright, but if I die, I'll make sure to remember that it was you who sent me to my death and I'll come back and haunt you," I warned in a slightly serious voice.

"You do that," he said, that small smile never leaving his face. "You're to meet the team at the Senkaimon tomorrow morning at 8:00. Understand?" he asked.

"Yep, no problemo," I said. Then I left to go sleep.

**%#%#%#%**

I woke up the next morning and just laid there in bed,

"_**Kit, get up. We have somewhere to be, or did you forget?" Inari chastised me.**_

"_Chill, I didn't forget. I'm just taking my time to wake up," I said. _I stretched and it was then I realized that I was on the floor. Again. Inari started laughing in my head. _"Can't you do something so that I stop falling to the floor when I sleep?" I asked._

"_**Sorry kit. You'll just have to deal with it. You know what I just thought? What if you meet that soul reaper today? You know, the one with the glowing turquoise eyes?" he said.**_

"_Are you ever going to shut up about that?" I growled._ Ever since I could hear him, Inari takes every chance to tease me about a guy that I've never met!

"_**Well, you better hurry. You were supposed to already be at the Senkaimon five minutes ago," he said casually.**_

"_Why didn't you say that before?" I screamed at him._ I ran around the room getting dressed and doing my hair. By the time I was done, I was already late by seven minutes. I grabbed Kaminari Kitsune and ran out the door, only stopping to close it and say good bye to Izuru.

Once outside, I started flash-stepping to the Senkaimon. Lucky for me, it wasn't too far from Squad 3 barracks. I was just inside the court yard when suddenly something appeared in front of my feet. I was still flash-stepping and couldn't doge it. I tripped over whatever it was and started rolling, but I was still flash-stepping. I finally stopped once I crashed into one of the walls. I landed upside down and had to take a minute to stop my head from spinning. It was then I recognized two sounds: one was laughter- but the one that stood out was Renji's; and the second thing was that Momo and Rukia were yelling at Renji for something. It took me a second to realize that Renji had tripped me with his foot. I got up and flash-stepped to where he stood.

"What the hell was that for, Renji?!" I yelled.

"Well maybe if you weren't so late I wouldn't have had to trip you," he said smugly.

"You wanna go?" I growled while my right hand inched up to the handle of my zanpakutō.

"Bring it, Rain**," he said as he too gripped the handle of his zanpakutō. I had just fully gripped Inari when I was suddenly caught between a rock and a soft place.

"Ohhhh, Kurai. Are you okay? I heard from Izuru that you were in the Squad 4 barracks for a week! I would've come to visit you, but my Captain made me do all my paperwork!" Rangiku squealed in my ears. I was hugged so hard that I couldn't breathe, but that might have to do with the fact that it seemed she was trying to kill me. With her boobs. Like seriously, how big are those things? Of course, it didn't help that Renji was laughing his ass off and saying something about Karma.

"Ran-gi-ku. I… can't….breathe!" I struggled to say. Someone coughed behind us and Rangiku let go. I jumped away from her while holding my throat, still wheezing. I turned toward the direction the person had coughed as they started to speak.

"Anyway, you're late…" His voice, so familiar from hearing it in my dreams, faded off as I turned toward him completely. And just stared, my eyes probably just as wide as his. _No way in fucking hell!_ Kaminari Kitsune just started laughing his ass off. It was him. The boy I met five years ago. The one who gave me bread and told me I should become a soul reaper. It was actually him. _Damn you Karma!_ He had white fluffy hair that was only spiked up here and there with bangs hanging over his left eye, both of which were the same captivating turquoise color as before. It was now that I noticed that over his shihakushō, he wore a sleeveless haori with dark green lining the inside. He also wore a long turquoise scarf around his neck. A thin chain held together by a star clip held his zanpakutō sheath in place on his back. _This guy's a Captain?_

**%#%#%#%**

(Toshiro P.O.V)

All I could do was stare at her, the girl I helped five years ago. I help a lot of people in the Rukon district, but for some reason, I couldn't forget her (which Hyōrinmaru teases me about constantly), the dirty thief with storm-blue and gold eyes with a massive distaste for soul reapers. I tried to forget her on the grounds that I would never see her again as she said she would never become a soul reaper, but here she is, standing right in front of me. Her eyes are the only thing familiar about her. Her light brown hair, no longer matted with dust and dirt, was twisted up into a clip with a silver pin through it and a cloth over the top of her head. She wore her shihakushō like Tetsuzaemon of Squad 7. Her zanpakutō was strapped to her back by a crimson sash.

"So, you decided to become a soul reaper after all," I said, my voice colder than it usually is. Her eyes narrowed at me. _Good, cover up familiarity with annoyance._

"_**You could be a **__**little**__** nice to her, you know," Hyōrinmaru said to me.**_

"It wasn't my decision. If I had it my way, I wouldn't even be here," she said, growling a little.

"They why are you?" I asked.

"You know why," she said. And I did. After I killed the hollow that had attacked her parents, I had stayed behind to make sure she was okay. I heard everything her mother said to her.

"Anyway, shouldn't we get going, Captain?" she said my title sarcastically and I let out a small growl. Next to me, Rangiku started giggling.

"Let's just go," I said and started walking toward the Senkaimon with everyone following me. _I can't believe just seeing her had me reacting like that. That girl….is going to be the death of me._

**%#%#%#%**

**Yo! Here is Chapter 6. So, Kurai finally meets Toshiro. Things are starting to heat up as they travel to the World of the Living. **

****When Renji calls Kurai 'Rain', he doesn't know her actual last name yet, Ame, which means Rain in Japanese. When he first met her she was kinda depressed so he started calling her Rain. That's it. Until chapter 7! **

**Later peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yo! I'm baaaaaaaaccccckkkkkk! *gives creepy grin* Sorry for the long wait everybody! :( I'd also like to thank the following for reviewing, following, and/or favoring:**

**Aryabloodlust **

**Tristhiet **

**Tsukino Aisuru - A **

**Vvolley **

**YingWhiteyWolf **

** KAT roth 54 **

**pinkypunkful**

**Karin Hyuuga **

**alexma**

**Infinity69**

**Battle-Royalist**

**IDon'tFreakingKnowYou**

** Tater the psycho cat**

**SilverMoon100**

**Thunderqueen-nat**

**Ducky the Insomniac Panda**

**AnimeFreak9096**

**orangeandblackpanda**

**Yaoifan-gurl-forever**

**This is Post-Aizen, so that's how everybody looks. Also, after much consideration, I have decided that Kurai will keep her fox attributes (ears and tail) ****BUT**** I will try to include more of Toboe and Tsume, Kurai's wolf friends, as a tradeoff. Alright, let's get this party started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Toboe and Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

"_Speaking in head" (i.e. to her zanpakutō) _

'_Thoughts within flashbacks/dreams/inner world'_

Emphasis/Sarcasm

"_**Zanpakutō speaking"**_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 7: Mission: Watch Rangiku. Wait, What?!

**%#%#%#%**

We appeared in Karakura Town on the roof of a building.

"Hey, wasn't Ichigo supposed to meet us here? I was hoping to fight him," someone said. That someone was Ikkaku Madarame, 3rd seat of Squad 11. Next to him was Yumichika Ayasegawa, the 5th seat of Squad 11.

"He's coming. His Spiritual Energy is getting closer." That was Renji Abari, the Lieutenant of Squad 6. Next to him was the short Lieutenant of Squad 13, Rukia Kuchiki. Both are Ichigo's best friends and probably can't wait to see him.

"It seems his friends are coming, as well," Rangiku Mastumoto said. She was the Lieutenant of Squad 10 and Kotori's Lieutenant. "Oh, I can't wait to see Orihime again. Hey, Captain, do you think she'll let us stay at her house again?" she asked the white haired Captain. _I still don't know his name. _

"_**Is there a reason why you want to know his name?" Kaminari Kitsune teased.**_

"_Yeah! So I don't have to keep calling him the white-haired Captain!" I shouted at him in my head, my cheeks turning just the slightest shade of pink._

"_**Just checking," he said **__before fading back into my inner world._

"I don't know, but don't ask her. If she wants us to stay, she'll ask us," the Captain said.

"Oh, Kurai, you should come with us when we go to stay with Orihime," Rangiku squealed at me.

"Uhhh…" I drew out.

"Rukia, Rangiku, everyone!" a girl's voice shouted. The Captain and everyone jumped down so I followed. We landed easily on the ground and I got a good look at the people. One was tall with brown eyes and brightest orange hair I've ever seen. _He's got to be Ichigo._ Renji talked about him often enough for me to recognize that hair. That and the fact that he was in heated argument with said red-head not even two minutes in from seeing each. Rangiku was chatting animatedly about shopping with a brown eyed girl with the same burnt orange colored hair and an equal sized chest. _I hope she doesn't hug people the same way as Rangiku._ I assumed this was Orihime. A huge, and I mean huge guy was talking with Rukia. From his size, he must be Chad. Then the only one left is… he's not here. The Quincy, Uryū Ishida. _Oh, well._

"So who's the girl?" Ichigo asked and I was snapped out of my thoughts by the question directed at me.

"I'm Kurai Kiri, 3rd seat of Squad 3. Nice to meet you, Ichigo Kurosaki and friends!" I said while waving my hand.

"Well, you know who I am. This is Orihime Inoue and Yasutora Sado, but you can just call him Chad," Ichigo said pointing to each as he introduced them. Chad nodded and I smiled back.

"Hello! If you don't have any place to stay, you can stay at my place, if you like," Orihime offered.

"Thank you," I said.

"So, Ichigo, tell us what's been going on here," the Captain said.

"Well, actually nothing much. It's just that there are more hollows than usual and we can't seem to figure out what's drawing them here. There's no abnormal spiritual energy here besides the usual, but they're all under control," Ichigo explained.

"Alright, everyone, take the rest of today to get yourselves together, but keep alert. We'll do active searches starting tomorrow," the Captain said. We all nodded and started to split up. Renji was going to Kisuke Urahara's for the duration of the stay and Momo was going with him, Rukia was going with Ichigo, while Ikkaku and Yumichika were heading off to some guy named Keigo's house. Suddenly, I felt something grab my arm and start dragging me somewhere. I looked over my shoulder to see Rangiku holding on to my arm like her life depended on it.

"Um, Ran? What are you doing to my arm?" I asked.

"Taking you with me, duh! You have no place to go and you already agreed with Orihime that you would stay with us," she exclaimed.

"Fine," I said in defeat. Then Ran continued to drag me off and I didn't hear the slight chuckle coming from the icy child-Captain.

**%#%#%#%**

We made it to Orihime's in one piece, and by we, I mean me, Orihime, Ran, and the icy Captain, who immediately disappeared.

"Alright, I only have one other room besides mine so…." Orihime trailed off as we walked inside.

"It's fine. I'll sleep on the couch," I said.

"No!" Orihime declared.

"Yes, I will and that's final! Otherwise, I'll just find another place to sleep," I threatened.

"Okay, but I just don't want you to be uncomfortable," she grumbled and pouted, causing Ran to hug he and squeal about how cute she is.

"Don't worry, I actually prefer the couch. Now, you two, stay out of the kitchen!" I stressed the last part and at their hesitant nods, I went to go cook some dinner that would actually be edible. _It's amazing what you can really learn from Renji's babbling._ I got out the ingredients I would need before I started cooking. When I was done I called the other two in. Their jaws dropped at the sight of what I cooked. A large pot full of chicken ramen and little dumplings on the side with chocolate cake for dessert.

"It looks so good!" Orihime exclaimed.

"Dig in, there's plenty for everybody," I said. Once we finished Ran pointed out something.

"The Captain never came down for dinner," she pouted. I just grabbed a bowl and filled it with the leftover ramen. I heated it up before saying, "I'll go take it to him." I walked out the back door and easily climbed to the roof where I sensed the icy Captain's spiritual energy. I landed next to him and held out the bowl.

"Not hungry," he said, only sparing the bowl a glance.

"Orihime didn't make it," I said. Nothing.

"Ran didn't make it either. It's completely edible," I said. He finally turned to look at it and I only held it out further towards him.

"Fine," he sighed before taking the bowl. I turned forward to look at the moon and the stars, hearing the chopsticks click against the bowl as he ate. Underneath my bandana my fox ears twitched and I had to force them still.

"Thank you," he finally said. _Thank you? He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to say 'thank you'._

"You're welcome, Captain- uh…..ummm…" I trailed off, my cheeks turning red.

"Hitsugaya," he offered.

"That's it! I remember now, you're the Captain of Squad 10. I never was interested in what happened with the other squads so I kind of forgot some names here and there. Captain Komamura was always scolding me for it 'cause I always seemed to forget the important people…Wait a second! That means that Kotori's on your squad," I said while slapping my fist into my palm with an 'Ah ha!' look on my face.

"My fifth seat, Kotori Hikō?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yep! We've been best friends since the Soul Reaper Academy," I exclaimed.

"I see," he said before turning back to the sky. I hummed a tune my mother used to play for me softly* as a warm breeze blew by. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back with a small smile on my face. I opened my eyes and stared at the full-moon above, the stars twinkling and dancing around.

"Ya know, me and mom used to climb onto the roof of our house on nights like these and just stare at the sky. Doing this now, kinda makes me sad that she's not here. She would've loved this view," I said with a small sad smile on my face. It stayed silent for a minute before I lied down on my back, my hands behind my head. "Thank you, Captain Hitsugaya," I said at last.

"For what?" he asked turning his head to look at me. The moonlight hit his face making his beautiful turquoise eyes glow with a silvery shine and his slightly messy/spikey white hair turning silver. _Wait, __beautiful__?! Where the hell did that come?!_ Kaminari Kitsune stayed quiet for once, though I could sense him silently laughing.

"For killing that Hollow. It gave me a minute more to speak with my mom. I know it was you, I could still feel traces of your spiritual pressure," I explained.

"I was just doing my job," he said, but I thought I could see just the tiniest hint of pink on his cheeks.

"Well, thanks anyway," I mumbled as my eyes drooped close, disregarding what I thought I saw as me being tired. _Man, I'm exhausted._ And then I was out.

**%#%#%#%**

(Toshiro's P.O.V.)

My body stiffened as I felt something warm pressed against my hip. I looked down to see that Kurai had fallen asleep and had moved so that her back was pressed to my hip and her legs against mine. _Sleeping on the roof can't be comfortable._ I sighed before standing up and then carefully picking up the unconscious soul reaper, one arm under her back, the other hooked under legs. I thought I felt something…soft and kind of…furry…against my arm, but then the feeling was gone and I played it off as me being tired. I spent the last three nights trying to finish most of the paperwork so that I would have less to do when we all got back to the Soul Society. I made my way toward the back of the house, jumping to the ground and using my spiritual pressure to ease the landing. I shifted her in my arms carefully, so as not to wake her, so that I could open the door. I walked in and placed her on the couch before pulling a blanket over her sleeping form. _I can't believe that after all these years, I'm __actually__ seeing her again. I thought that there was no way I would ever see her again, since she said she wouldn't become a soul reaper._

"_**But you heard what her mother said to her before she died," Hyōrinmaru said.**_

"Become a soul reaper," I whispered out loud. Kurai said something that sounded strangely like 'ramen' and turned over onto her side without waking up. I allowed a small smile to slip onto my face. _No, stop it, Toshiro. The last thing you need is to be distracted._ The smile fell from my face as I shook my head, as if to clear it of all the thoughts of the blue-gold eyed soul reaper._ I should try to get some sleep. We start searching for the cause of all these Hollows appearing tomorrow._ I then lied down on the other couch and fell asleep.

**%#%#%#%**

(Kurai's P.O.V.)

I woke up… on the floor. I groaned before I smelt something…delicious…coming from my clothes. I brought a piece of the fabric up to my nose so that I could smell it. _This smells like Captain Hitsugaya! But why would my clothes smell like him? And how did I get here?_ I soon put all the pieces together- I must've fallen asleep on the roof and Captain Hitsugaya must've carried me back down.

"Kuraaaaiiiiiiiiii!" Rangiku shouted. I winced and put my lands over my fox ears which were still covered by my bandana to help muffle some of the noise.

"Please Ran, not this early in the morning," I complained.

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all. "Anyway, Orihime and I are going to rope Rukia, Momo, Ichigo, Renji and Captain into going shopping with us later. You wanna come?" The way she asked such a simple question made it seem like I really didn't have a choice in the matter. But still, I was a rebel.

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"'Cause I hate shopping."

"Come on, it's not it'll kill you or anything."

"You don't know that, Ran."

"Come ooooooonnnnnnnn. Plllllleeeeeeaaaaaaassssssseeeeee."

"Let me think about it."

"Yay!"

"No."

"Aw! Come on, Kurai."

"I said no, Ran and I meant it." She groaned before muttering something and walking away. I sighed before my soul pager went off.

"Ran, Orihime! We're to meet Captain Hitsugaya and the others at Ichigo Kurosaki's house in 10 minutes. You better be ready!" I shouted before getting up off of the floor and into the kitchen to make a sandwich.

10 minutes later and I still haven't seen Ran or Orihime come out of the bedroom.

"Ran, let's go. What the hell are you two doing?" I asked. I walked into the bedroom only to see Rangiku and Orihime posed over a piece of paper with a pen in hand.

"Come on, let's go. Captain Hitsugaya is going have our asses for being late," I declared as I walked in. "Man, if I had Toboe and Tsume here I'd just drag their asses to Kurosaki's house," I muttered.

"Alright, don't get your panties in a twist, we're coming," I Ran whined.

"Good. Then let's go. We don't need to be later than we already are," I said. I walked out of the small house, Ran and Orihime following me at last. We walked to Kurosaki's house before Ran got the great idea to enter through the roof.

"And just how do you suppose we do that? Does he have a skylight window we can break?" I asked with my arms crossed over my chest.

"We'll just do what we did last time and cut a hole," Ran said.

"Hm, will it annoy Kurosaki?" I asked.

"Yep!" she replied. Orihime had just walked in through the front door.

"Awesome! Let's do it!" I exclaimed.

"You ever noticed your mood swings?" Ran asked, just slightly confused at my sudden disposition.

"Not mood swings, I was just tired. It takes a little while for me to wake up, but now that I am, I'm perfectly normal and ready to cause some trouble," I explained.

"Oh I knew I liked you for a reason," she said grinning. "Let's go!" We jumped onto the roof and got above the place where we could sense the spirit energy of every one inside- Ichigo, Rukia, Renji, Momo, Ikkaku, Yumichika, Orihime and Captain Hitsugaya. Ran took out her zanpakutō and carefully started carving a hole. Unfortunately, I sneezed. Now normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but when I just sneezed, I lost my balance. I moved my foot to try to regain that balance but the area where I put my foot…..was the loose piece of ceiling Ran just cut.

"Uh oh," I said…right before I fell through the ceiling, Ran falling after me. I landed with a 'bang' as sheetrock dust rose around me and Ran, who was lying on top of me. We groaned as I heard Renji laughing at us…once again.

"Shut up, pineapple head. And Ran…get off of me!" I shoved Rangiku off of me as I sat up, coughing as I waved my hand around to get rid of the dust.

"Wh-what did you do to my ceiling?!" Ichigo stuttered.

"It was her fault!" I declared, pointing at Ran who was also coughing.

"I don't care whose fault it is-"

"Good,"

"I care about who's gonna fix it!" he yelled.

"Aw, come on, Ichigo. Can't you forgive us?" Ran whined/asked.

"No."

"Even if I do this?" Ran started unbuttoning her shirt, to the point where we could see more than usual. Ichigo, Renji, Orihime and Ikkaku's faces all turned red, Yumichika was indifferent, Momo squealed and dove under the bed, Rukia was calling Ichigo and Renji perverts for not looking away and the Captain just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Rangiku! Stop this now, we have to start the mission!" the Captain snapped.

"Oh, Captain, you're no fun," Ran moaned. She put her shirt back on and we all looked to the Captain for instructions.

"Ikkaku, Yumichika, you two take the south. Momo and Renji, the west. Ichigo and Rukia, the east. Rangiku and I will take the north. Orihime, you stay on standby for any injuries," he directed.

"Eh, Captain? What about me?" I asked.

"You'll be with me and Rangiku. I need someone to watch her, as no doubt she'll try to slip away," he said.

"What!? With all due respect sir, I didn't come here to play babysitter," I growled.

"You didn't let me finish. You'll also be the messenger. I was informed that you are an expert at flash-steps. You can quickly deliver messages to Kisuke and tell Orihime and Tessai if someone is injured," he explained.

"I didn't come here to play mail lady either," I muttered, too low for anybody to hear.

"Alright, move out!"

**%#%#%#%**

**I'm sorry for the long wait everybody! I've been like dragging through this whole chapter. I just had to end it here. Hopefully the next one will be better. And quicker to update. -_- Sorry! Until next time!**

**Later peeps!  
~ShadowWolf**


	8. Chapter 8

**Yo! I'm baaaaaaaaccccckkkkkk! *gives creepy grin* Sorry for the long wait everybody! :( I'd also like to thank the following for reviewing, following, and/or favoring:**

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**TSUKIKO CHILD OF THE MOON**

**This is Post-Aizen, so that's how everybody looks. Alright, let's get this party started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Toboe and Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world _

"_Speaking in head" (i.e. to her zanpakutō)_

'_Thoughts within flashbacks/dreams/inner world'_

Emphasis/Sarcasm

"_**Zanpakutō speaking"**_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 8: Excited

**%#%#%#%**

I followed Rangiku and the Captain to the north end of Karakura. We jumped onto the top of a building that looked like a hospital of some sort.

"Alright. You know what to do. If you see any hollows or sense any nearby, go after them. Don't hesitate to leave. If you can, wait and see if they're being drawn to something or someone. Kurai, be ready to take a message to Kisuke at a moment's notice, got it?" the Captain said.

"Yes sir," I replied, not happy that I was being reduced to messenger. "Oh and sir, should someone close get hurt, I know some healing kidō that Lieutenant Kira taught me so I can heal minor injuries and at least stop any bleeding of more serious injuries, should anyone need any help," I informed him. He nodded.

"Oh, Kurai! You're so kind!" Ran squealed as she hugged me tightly. I started to make wheezing sounds as I couldn't breathe.

"Rangiku! She can't breathe!" Captain Hitsugaya said sharply.

"Oh, sorry, Kurai," she said as she released me. I backed away from her, my hand around my throat as I coughed to regain the lost oxygen.

"That's…*cough* okay….*cough, cough*" I wheezed. To help calm myself down I started humming a song my mother taught me when I was younger.

"What song is that?" Ran asked after hearing me hum it.

"It's a song my mother used to always sing to me. She said she knew that someday this song would describe me. I've never stopped singing it since," I explained.

"Could you sing it now?" Ran asked hopefully.

"Rangiku! We're on a mission!" Captain Hitsugaya reminded her.

"So? It's quiet now. One song won't hurt." He didn't say anything else as she turned to me expectantly. I sighed before I began to sing softly. (Can skip if you want to)

"Sugu ni sugu ni sugu ni

Yami wo koe kaketsukeru

Taisetsu na hito wo mamorinukitai

Sono toki haguruma wa mawaridashiteta

Unmei michibiku yo kimi no moto e to

Mebeata omoi kakushite ite mo

Hitomi wo mireba kimochi wa yureru kedo

Negau koto wa hitotsu

Kowarenai kono kokoro

Donna shiren ni taoeru to shite mo

Sugu ni sugu ni sugu ni

Mou ichido tachiagaru

Sou kimi yo douka mattete

Yowasa tachikiru no wa

Kimi ga kureta Justice of Light." *

"It's called Justice of Light**," I explained.

"Kurai! That was beautiful! Where did you learn to sing like that?" Ran asked.

"Well, the song is from my mom and I guess I was just born with my voice," I said, not really sure how to answer her question. All of a sudden, loud screeching/roar was heard as seven gargantas opened up above us. I gasped as seven large Hollows came out. The Captain, Ran and I immediately jumped to action. I ran toward the Hollow that had landed on the roof. It screeched, leathery bat-like wings stretching out in challenge. I enveloped my body in my familiar silver-blue colored spiritual pressure that was crackling with electricity.

"Pounce upon your prey and tear out their throats, Kaminari Kitsune!" I shouted, my zanpakutō glowing silver-blue as I swung it down and to the right, a _crack_ resonating through the air as it transformed into my silver whip with little foxes in various battle positions all along its length. "Kaminari no muchi!" I called out, my whip now crackling with the same silver-blue electricity that was dancing around my body. I swung Kaminari Kitsune so that he curled around the neck of the bat-like Hollow. Its skin started to burn from the heat produced by the electricity covering Kaminari Kitsune. With a flick of my wrist the whip tightened to the point where I decapitated the Hollow, causing it to disappear.

"Kurai, behind you!" Ran screamed just before I heard her land behind me. She met the Hollow with the blade of her sword but I turned my head quickly and saw another coming for us. Captain Hitsugaya had just gotten rid of two of the four Hollows that had been battling him when the other two started coming for us as well. I knew the two of us had no chance with three more hollows coming at us, plus the one that Rangiku was keeping occupied.

"Rangiku! Kurai!" the Captain screamed as he started to us but my scream stopped him.

"Raitoningushīrudo! (Pronounce: rai-toning-gu-shir-u-do (I think that's how you pronounce it))" I swung Kaminari Kitsune so he swirled around us, prompting a silver-blue dome made of my spiritual pressure and crackling with electricity to cover me and Ran. The Hollow that Ran was fighting was blown back as the shield formed over her zanpakutō. The other three Hollows crashed into the shield and I screamed as I pushed more spiritual pressure into the shield so as to maintain it around Rangiku and me. Suddenly, I heard snarling; loud, vicious snarling. The four Hollows jumped back at the sound and I fell to my knees as the shield disappeared.

"Are you guys okay?" Captain Hitsugaya asked as he appeared in front of us, zanpakutō held in front of him as Ran crouched next to me, a hand on my back to help keep me steady.

"I am, but Kurai is-" Ran started.

"I'm…*pant*… fine…" I said. "I just…*pant*… need to catch…*pant, pant*…my breath… a little."

Another snarl was heard, as if to contradict my statement.

"What is that? It doesn't sound like another Hollow, does it?" Ran asked. At her sound, the four Hollows started toward us again and more snarling was heard.

"Seriously, what is that?" Ran asked. The Hollows came closer and the white-haired Captain was about to speak, but stopped when four large shapes blurred past us as they shot toward the Hollows. My eyes widened as I recognized the spirit energy of the four beings. They continued running, just blurs of color and then they jumped, slashing sharp claws at the four masks. I sat there, a wide grin filled with pride on my face as I watched the Hollows disappear. Ran noticed my grin and made a questioning noise. At the sound, Captain Hitsugaya turned toward us, his zanpakutō still unsheathed. I tried to stand up, but stopped as the four beings let out growls, walking toward us. The Captain moved further in front of me and Rangiku while turning to face the newcomers. _As if he wants to protect us._

**%#%#%#%**

(Toshiro's P.O.V.)

I moved further in front of Rangiku and Kurai as the four beings continued to growl and move closer. Now that they aren't running, I could see that they looked like…wolves….huge wolves. The largest was muscled, with a grey colored pelt, silver markings and gold eyes. _Probably male._ The one beside it was slightly shorter and more slender than muscular, a pretty silver colored pelt with white under-muzzle, neck, chest and stomach and white ear tips with dark blue eyes. _Most likely female. _The last two were equal in height and about equal in muscle. One was reddish-brown with light brown eyes and the other blonde colored with silver eyes. _Can't tell._

"Rangiku, get Kurai to out of here. She's in no condition to fight," I ordered, readying Hyōrinmaru in front of me. The four wolves, if they could be called that they were so large, growled and continued to stalk forward. _They seem almost unnatural._ Before I could do anything, they leapt. The brown, blonde and silver leaping for me, the large grey one… _Kurai!_

"Rangiku!" I yelled as I tried to fight off the three wolves.

"No!" I heard Rangiku scream and then the wolves were gone from me, back in front of me in a position as if they were….guarding something. _Or someone. _I saw the large grey one behind them, the back of Kurai's shihakushō clenched in its jaws. She hung from his jaws, eyes wide and that damn grin still on her face. Her zanpakutō had even gone back to its sealed form! _She's a damn idiot! What the hell does she think she's doing?! Although, I haven't seen her smile since…actually, I've never seen her smile. It looks better on her than crying or that sad smile. Wait, what?! No, no, no. Bad, Toshiro. Stop this! You have to __save__ her, not just keep staring at her._ I refocused on the task at hand. The three wolves facing us turned and pounced on Kurai.

Rangiku and I immediately started running toward her, not even registering the sounds of laughter.

**%#%#%#%**

(Kurai's P.O.V.)

I laughed as I was tackled to the ground. Kaminari Kitsune clattered as he fell from my hand but at the moment, I didn't care.

"_**Nice to know you care about me, kit," he growled.**_

"_Oh, don't be that way. Just let me enjoy being reunited with the last of my family, besides you," I said._

"Okay, okay, that's enough you guys-" I broke off as I registered the fast approaching spirit energies of Ran and the Captain. "Wait, no!" But it was too late. Tsuki and Tsume had leapt for the Captain and Ran, intent on protecting me. "No, stop." I said. Toboe and Taiyō stood on either side of me, low to the ground, hackles raised, fur bristling, teeth bared and growls rumbling low in their throats. "Stop!" I said louder. _Why are they attacking? Wait, they must…of course. They must think that the Captain and Ran are trying to hurt me. I mean, they did start running towards us with their zanpakutō's out, though __they __probably think that Tsume and the others mean to hurt me._ I took a second to think about what I just thought. _Oh boy. This is one hell of a freaking mess._

Toboe and Taiyō looked at me questioningly at my statement. Tsume and Tsuki were not holding back anything as they attacked Ran and Captain Hitsugaya relentlessly. Tsuki suddenly switched from attacking Ran to assisting Tsume with Captain Hitsugaya. She leaped and locked her jaws around the Captain's right forearm, causing him to drop his zanpakutō from the pain and the amount of blood that now coated his hand in its slippery substance. He cursed and so did I when saw that Tsume was now going after the Captain now that he didn't have his zanpakutō to protect himself with. Tsume leapt forward, jaws parted and snarling, intent on ripping out the Captain's throat…but I was faster. I flash-stepped forward so that I was in front of the Captain and raised my left arm to my throat.

"Kurai? What the hell are you-" he started to yell and Tsuki growled at him causing him to flinch, since her jaws are still around his arm. I stood still in front of him, my eyes locked on the large grey shape moving towards us at insane speed. Tsume was going too fast to see that I had stepped in front of his target. He got closer. And closer. And closer still.

"STAND DOWN!" I screamed as I felt sharp teeth puncture the soft skin of my forearm and everything seemed to just stop completely. Everyone, and I mean everyone stopped and stared at me. It was so silent that I sure even the Captain and Ran, who were both completely human, could hear the sound of my blood as it dripped steadily onto the roof of the building.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip._

"Tsuki, release him," I commanded, my eyes still locked with Tsume's. I could see the anger, his need to protect, his surprise…and his guilt at realizing what he just did. She growled and I heard the snowy-haired Captain wince. "Tsuki!" She released him and walked over so that she was next to Tsume. I saw her wide eyes at seeing what had happened.

"Kurai!" Ran screamed. She started to run to me, but I quickly stopped her.

"Stop, Ran. Don't come closer. I don't want them to attack you again," I said.

"Kurai?" I heard the Captain ask.

"I'll be fine. They won't hurt me." He scoffed. "They're just protecting me. Right, Tsume?" I asked the grey wolf. I sat down, bringing Tsume with me. He lied down in front of me, resting his head in my lap, my arm still in his jaws. He let go of my arm and I brought it to my chest, petting his head with my uninjured arm. "It was a simple mistake Tsume. It's fine. I don't blame you. You were just trying to protect me. Its fine," I said to him. "Taiyō, bring me my zanpakutō please," I asked. She did, setting it down to my right before lying down right next to it. Toboe lied down on my left while Tsuki sat next to Tsume. I could tell that both the Captain and the Lieutenant were surprised by their obedience. "Captain, if you would like, I can get to healing that arm of yours. After all, it was my friend that hurt you."

"Friend?" he scoffed.

"They are my friends. They were just protecting me when they thought I was in danger," I explained. He sighed before padding over. He came over in front of me and Tsume sat up and growled at him. I smacked Tsume on the back of the head. "Play nice. All of you," I said looking at them all. I saw Rangiku eyeing Taiyō so I smiled. "That's Taiyō." At the sound of her name, she raised her blonde head and pinned silver eyes on Ran. "She won't hurt you if you try to touch her now. Promise." Ran came over as I focused on the arm that was placed in front of me. My hands glowed green with healing kidō and I pressed them gently over the wound.

"Her fur's so soft!" Ran explained and I heard Taiyō start to purr. I grinned as I got the bleeding to stop and even healed the wound to the point where it would just need a few stitches. _Tsume really tore up the Captain's arm!_

"Thanks," the Captain said.

"No problem. Oh, so the blonde wolf is Taiyō, the reddish-brown one is her mate Toboe, the silver and white one is Tsuki and the grey one is Tsume, her mate. They're friends of mine from the Soul Society. They must've slipped into the Senkaimon right after us," I said to the two soul reapers.

"This is Lieutenant Rangiku Matsumoto and Captain Hitsugaya of Squad 10," I said to the four wolves.

"Now that we have that sorted out, we should head back to Ichigo's house and see what happened to the others," the Captain suggested.

"Alright! Hey, Captain, do you think Ichigo or Orihime have sake at their house?" Ran asked.

"I don't know and even if they do, you're not getting it. We're here on a mission, not to drink," he said.

"Oh, and since it's only noon, and it seems that the Hollows are gone for now, can we go-"

"No."

"Aw, why not?"

"We're on a mission!"

"But Caaaptaaaiiinnnn," Rangiku whined.

"I said no."

"Oh, party pooper," she pouted.

He turned and began walking away. "Come on Rangiku, Kurai. We still have a job to do." But when he turned around, we were gone.

**%#%#%#%**

"Ran, do you think we should've left the Captain by himself? What if more Hollows come?" I asked as Ran continued to drag me as she flash-stepped toward Orihime's house.

"Don't worry 'bout the Captain, he'll be fine on his own," she said. We finally stopped and she pushed open the door yelling 'We're back!' Toboe, Taiyō, Tsume and Tsuki followed me and lied down off to the side of Orihime's living room.

"Oh, welcome back guys! No one else had any trouble so they've all gone home, but are still keeping their eyes open," she said.

"Okay. And is it okay-" I got cut off by Orihime's squeal. I immediately placed my hands on top of my head, covering my fox ears over the bandana.

"Aw! They're sooooo cute! And really, really big! Whose are they?" she asked as she walked over to the small pack of wolves in her living room. They had placed their paws over their ears as they had sensitive hearing as well.

"Actually, I was wondering of it was okay for them to stay here. They won't hurt you. The blonde girl is Taiyō, the one you're petting is Toboe, the silver and white girl is Tsuki and the large grey guy is Tsume," I told her as she petted Toboe.

"Of course they can stay here! What kind of dogs are they? They're really big!" she exclaimed as she started listing dog breeds that tended to grow up big.

"A-actually, they're not dogs, they're wolves. From Soul Society. They're the only family I have left," I said the last part sadly. The four wolves walked over to me and nuzzled my side with some small whimpers. I petted Tsuki's head and sighed.

"Oh, Kurai, I'm sorry," Orihime said sympathetically.

"It's fine. It was a long time ago anyway," I said.

"How long?" I heard Ran ask. There something in her voice, like she was trying to find the last missing piece to complete a puzzle.

"Five years." Silence and if I had been facing Rangiku, I would've seen her eyes widen as she found that missing puzzle piece before a large, mischievous grin spread across her face as she sensed something approaching.

"Hey, Orihime. Why don't you come with me and lets round everyone up for a shopping trip?" Ran asked. "Kurai, you stay here and hold down the fort 'till we get back." And with that, she grabbed Orihime's arm and flash-stepped out of the house. _So that's why she left the door open._ I closed the door before deciding that a shower would do me good.

"I'm going to take a shower. You four behave. And if you go hunting, don't you dare get blood on Orihime's floor. If I come out and I see even one drop, you're all going back to Soul Society. Got it?" I asked/threatened. They all nodded before they went out the back door that Orihime forgot to close. I decided to leave it open so they could get back in. _Besides, I can protect myself should someone come and try something._ I gathered the things I'd need before going into the bathroom and getting in the shower, unaware of the same presence that Rangiku sensed that was coming closer.

**%#%#%#%**

(Toshiro's P.O.V.)

_I'm going to kill them as soon as I get my hands on them._

"_**No, you're not," Hyōrinmaru said.**_

"_Yes, I am. Rangiku is probably dragging them to the mall right now. I brought Kurai with us so that this wouldn't happen," I told him _as I flash-stepped toward Orihime's house to see if they were still there.

"_**But Kurai has not yet mastered Shikai. Using that defensive ability, probably for the first time in an actual battle, took a lot of her energy. I bet Rangiku just dragged her along, and with Kurai you've got those four wolves as well," he hypothesized.**_

"_That does make sense. Kurai doesn't seem like the type to just run from a mission," I concluded._

I finally made it to the house. I sensed the wild spirit energy of the four wolves about ten miles off to the side of Orihime's house and Kurai's own crackling spirit energy. Her spirit energy was….unique….in that it felt like pure electricity. Wild, hot, and crackling. It did make it easy to find her though.

I stopped at the front door, opened it and stepped inside…just as Kurai came out of the bathroom. With only a white towel wrapped around her slim body. It was kinda short, stopping about halfway down her thighs and a little more than a little bit revealing, now that her chest wasn't wrapped in bandages. Her wavy light brown hair was down, stopping about mid back. But what really got me were the two neat, compact light brown, gold and copper fox ears on top of her head, sticking up from her hair and the same colored fox tail that had just moments before been swaying gently back and forth behind her tan legs. She stood completely still, her wide eyes meeting mine. Water dripped down from her jaw, tracing the curve of her neck, sliding over her collar bone to disappear in the towel and I couldn't help but think that I wanted to trace that same path with my mouth. _No, no, no! What is with you lately? Stop thinking like this! Now!_ Her cheeks started to turn red and I realized that I was staring at her with my lips slightly parted, my eyes wandering over her figure.

"Uh…ummm…" she started to say something but was too flustered to say what was on her mind and I couldn't help but think it was cute and that I liked being the reason why. And that I wouldn't mind being the reason why she acted like this if she did again. _Stop! You have to stop this this!_

"_**Say something to her, little one," Hyōrinmaru said.**_

"_Don't call me little one!" I retorted._

"Are those what you're hiding beneath that bandana of yours?" I asked, referring to her fox ears. She nodded, not even trying to speak. I smirked, getting an idea and started walking towards her. Her wide eyes widened even more but she held her ground, back backing down. I came closer and her ears stood straight up in challenge. I stopped when I stood right in front of her, a few inches of space between our bodies. I could feel heat coming off of her while I was sure she could feel cold coming off of me. She inhaled through her nose when I reached up with my left hand, the uninjured hand, to gently pet one of her ears, my curiosity getting the better of me. I scratched lightly behind her right ear and I saw her body visibly relax as her eyes closed. She shuffled a little closer to me while tilting her head up so that her ear pressed harder into my hand. I allowed a small smile to slip onto my face as I scratched a little harder. She must've liked it, because the next thing I knew, a sound similar to a purr rumbled in her throat and I smiled wider. Her eyes snapped open at the sound and she backed away, running back into the bathroom, the door slamming shut behind her. _Did I do something wrong?_ Because before she had turned to run, I had seen something I didn't expect to see in her eyes. Fear. Fear…and pain.

"_**And just when you two were starting to get along," Hyōrinmaru said.**_

**%#%#%#%**

(Kurai's P.O.V.)

I sat on the floor of the bathroom, back against the door and my knees drawn up to my chest. When I first saw him five years ago, I lied to him.

The lie: I hated soul reapers because they let my best friend get killed by a Hollow when they could've saved her.

The truth: I had hated soul reapers before I even knew who or what they were.

I couldn't stop shaking as memories that I had tried to push to the back of my mind came to light, even though they were 100 years old.

**%#%#%#%**

(Flashback- 100 years ago)

_I was only 30, still a child, when it happened. I was walking back home after stealing my dinner. My clothes were torn and dirty but I was full for the first time in days so I wasn't complaining. All of a sudden, hands grabbed me, covering my mouth so I that I couldn't scream. I was pulled into the alley and pinned against the wall. The bandana covering my ears was ripped off. I looked at my attackers- there were three of them, all men, dressed in black robes with swords at their waists._

"_It's her alright. She's got the ears," number 1 said._

"_Underneath all that dirt and grim, she's kind of cute. I bet without those pants of hers, she's got a tail," number 2 snickered._

"_You know, Lord Higarashi only said he needed her alive. He didn't say we couldn't have some fun with her first. I'm sure he won't mind," number 3 supplied. I gulped, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Number 1 tightened his hand on my wrists and allowed his other one to trail down my sides, ghosting over my chest. Fear unlike anything I had ever known settled itself into my stomach. Number 2 ripped off my pants and just like he said, my fox tail immediately came to the front to try to cover up the underclothes I had put on this morning. Number 3 kept his hand over my mouth, making it hard to breathe as he trailed a hand up my legs. I squirmed and squeezed my eyes shut, hoping against hope that this was just a bad dream, but the sensation of bugs crawling up my skin told me otherwise. The hands crawled higher and lower, inching towards my *cough, cough* center. I let out muffled yells, hoping someone would hear._

"_Hey, slime balls! Let go of her!" I heard a voice yell. My eyes slammed open and I looked to the opening of the alley to see a girl who looked age-wise like she could be my older sister._

"_Go away, little girl. We don't have time for you," number 1 sneered._

"_Ya well, make time!" Then she sprang. She wrestled all three of them off of me and I couldn't help but think that she looked like a tiger with the way she was wrestling. She was scratching and biting and punching. Before I knew it, she had stolen one of the men's swords and stabbed him with it. She quickly turned and got the other two as well. I had slid down the wall and just sat there, huddled in a ball, trying to make myself as small as possible so as to stay out of the tigress' way. When she was done she came over to me and tugged off her waist length jacket before putting it on me. At first, I had shied away, but her comforting words were so soft, I gave in. "Don't worry. Those damn soul reapers can't hurt you anymore. You're safe. Did they- was I too late?" she asked. I quickly shook my head to assure her she got here in time. "Good. What's your name, little one?" she asked._

"_K-kur- kurai. Kurai K-kiri," I stuttered._

"_Dark Mist, huh? My name is Sora. You must come from a good family. I don't have a last name," she said sadly. _

"_Th-then c-can I g-give you o-one?" I asked shyly. I wanted to repay this girl and if giving her a last name would make her happy, then I would give this girl a million last names. She looked surprised at my offer but nodded anyway. I thought and thought and thought._

"_T-tora," I decided._

"_Tora? Alright, I like it! From now on, I shall be Sora Tora, the sky tiger!" she said happily and I grinned. Then we laughed at how it sounded._

"_I can g-give you a different o-one. Sora Tora sounds kinda weird," I said._

"_Don't. I like it. Who cares of its weird? Besides, it's the name you gave me," she said confidently. I looked at her shocked. "Come on, let's get you home. I bet your parents are worried about you. And nice fox ears and tail. I think they look cool." She never ceased to surprise me. She was the person who saved me. She was my first friend, my best friend, my older sister in every sense of the word. She was everything to me. She was Sora Tora, my protector, my sky tiger._

_And from that day on, I hated the soul reapers with every fiber of my being. If I only knew that in about a hundred years everything would change. That my world would completely shatter, and that the ones that would help put it back together are the very beings that I had so hated._

(End of Flashback)

**%#%#%#%**

I stiffened as I came out of the memory. I heard the door slam before I heard Ran enter with a lot of people.

"Kurai! We're back and brought more victims- I mean helpers- I mean friends!" Ran shouted. I quickly got up, slipped into my gigai and got dressed. Loose black pants, my tail wrapped around my leg, a dark blue semi-fitted t-shirt, a dark purple belt that looped twice around my pants- the first time tight around my waist, the second loose to hang across my left thigh. I twisted my hair into its silver clip and slid the pin through. I tied a black bandana over my fox ears and splashed cold water on my face. I put on the two necklaces I owned and walked out of the bathroom to face Rangiku, preparing myself to be forced into going shopping.

"So, did you and the Captain have fun while we were gone?" she asked suggestively. _Damn. And I was really hoping to relax after everything that just happened too._

**%#%#%#%**

**Yo! Welcome back to **Kaminari no muchi- Lightning Whip**. Sorry 'bout the late update. But now I'm on vacation to Myrtle Beach and it's like a 16 hour drive so I'm typing in the car. This is honestly ****the**** longest chapter I have ****ever**** written at over 5,000 words. Ya-hoo! I should type in the car more often! Alright! Now for some translations: **(This is for the song Kurai sang)

"Right away, right away, right away

I sprint through the darkness

I want to protect the ones I love

Back then, the gears were beginning to turn

Fate will guide me to where you are

Though I may try to hide my burgeoning love

When I look into your eyes, my heart reels

But my unfailing heart

Only wishes for one thing-

That no matter what trials I may fall before,

Right away, right away, right away,

I will get back up again

Yes, please, wait there for me

It's the Justice of Light that you gave me

That cuts me loose from my weakness"

**Justice of Light by: Mayumi Gojo. It's the opening song for The Sacred Blacksmith and I don't own it.

**I'm sorry of you guys are getting confused by all the different anime references. This is why it's not a crossover, because that's all they are, just references. I am sorry though, if you guys get confused. I'll try to control it. It's just that I hear or see something (like the song) and I automatically want to add it to my story, but then I have to remember to be careful, 'cause I don't want to plagiarize or steal someone's idea or anything. Sorry!**

**Tsuki- 'Moon' in Japanese**

**Tsume- 'Claw' in Japanese**

**Toboe- 'Howling' in Japanese**

**Taiyō- 'Sun' in Japanese**

**Sora- 'Sky' in Japanese**

**Tora- 'Tiger' in Japanese**

**Kaminari no muchi- 'Lightning whip' in Japanese**

**Raitoningushīrudo- 'Lightning shield' in Japanese**

**Until chapter 9!**

**Later peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf**


	9. Chapter 9

**Yo! I'm baaaaaaaaccccckkkkkk! *gives creepy grin* Sorry for the long wait everybody! I started high school this year and I've been spending all this time getting all my shit together so I didn't have any time to type. I know that no excuse and I'm sorry. I've been ****writing**** I just couldn't find time to actually type it up. Also, my computer was throwing a temper tantrum the past few weeks so I finally got that fixed as well. Now we're back in the game with all lights on and ready to go! I'd like to ****REALLY**** thank the following people for reviewing, following, and/or favoring and for sticking to this story even though it's been really, really, ****REALLY**** long time since I've updated:**

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**I would also like to apologize to those of you have reviewed/followed/favored this story a while ago and didn't see your username. I don't know what happened, because I'm absolutely sure I put some of you here and I just realized that your names were missing. I'm sorry! Sorry, sorry, sorry! I think my email deleted the alert before I could post your name or for some reason it didn't save on my computer. I promise I'll look every time I post. Sorry! If this happens again, please let me know. I really want you guys to know how much I appreciate you so I do this, but I can't do it if your names disappear! *Whhhaaaaaa!* *Cries* Btw, the usernames are arranged: first letter capital, in alphabetical order; then first letter lower case, in alphabetical order. Also, for those of you who put your username, I can't put them there because on , if I try to save a file with your username saved like that, it deletes a part of your name so this is my solution.**

**This is Post-Aizen, so that's how everybody looks. Alright, let's get this party started!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Toboe and Tsume. They belong to Tite Kubo and Wolf's Rain respectively. I only own my OCs.**

_Thoughts, dreams, flashbacks, inner world_

"_Speaking in head" (i.e. to her zanpakutō) or 'Thoughts within flashbacks/dreams/inner world'_

Emphasis/Sarcasm

"_**Zanpakutō speaking"**_

**%#%#%#%**

Chapter 9: The Beginning of the Fated End

**%#%#%#%**

I walked behind our rag-tag group with my hands stuffed in my pockets and these wonderful things called ear buds in my ears. They were connected to something called an Mp3 player and played music without disturbing other people. _The World of the Living sure has some wonderful things. I wonder if I can get the captain of Squad 12 to modify it to use reishi (spirit particles; like atoms, molecules, etc…) as a power source so I can use it in Soul Society. Even though he totally creeps me out._

"All right! We're here! Let's go shopping!" Rangiku yelled so loud I could hear her over my music. I rolled my eyes before stealthily moving behind Ran as the stayed in the back to make sure no one tried to escape. I reached into her back pocket and carefully removed her wallet and therefore exactly $130 (A/N: I'm using US currency just to make life simpler). I carefully replaced her wallet before….you guessed it. I disappeared.

**%#%#%#%**

(Rangiku's P.O.V.)

"Hey! Anyone know where Kurai went?" I asked, looking around upon noticing the brunette was no longer with us.

"Nope. Lucky dog, managing to disappear though," Renji muttered.

"What was that, Renji?" I asked in a sweet voice.

"N-nothing," he stuttered.

"That's what I thought," I said, pleased. "We'll just have to continue without her." I noticed the captain leaving out of the corner of my eye and I couldn't help but grin mischievously.

**%#%#%#%**

(Kurai's P.O.V.)

Approx. 1 hour, 45 minutes later…..

I was sitting in one of those comfy beanbag chairs in the back of the book store, Books 4Evr. I had two plastic bags full of books sitting next to me that I had already paid for with Ran's money. I was currently reading one now, a romance, my favorite kind. It was when I saw a shadow blocking my light did I look up.

"Excuse me, but you're blocking the light," I said as I looked up…..and saw snow-white hair and piercing teal eyes.

"You were here for two hours?" was all he asked. I nodded before feeling the need to correct him.

"Yes I was, and it wasn't two hours, it was an hour and 45 minutes," I retorted. He sighed before grabbing my arm and pulling me up. All of a sudden my vision flashed and instead of the chibi captain, it was a middle aged man with dark brown hair. Instead of the grip on my arm being firm, yet gentle, it seemed all of a sudden to be tight and harsh, bordering on painful.

"No! Don't touch me!" I yelled, forgetting where I was as I wrenched my arm back. All I could see was the brown haired man.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he asked in that sickeningly sweet voice as he reached out an arm to grab me again.

"No! Stay away from me!" I yelled again before running out of the store, bumping into a shelf or two filled with things, the book I was holding falling to the floor with a dull 'thump'.

I didn't care where I ran or how I looked, I only knew I had to get away. I felt wind hit my face and I turned right from the entrance to the mall. I ran all the way to the park that was located a couple miles east of the mall. I sat under a tree and pressed my hands to my face, surprised to find that it was wet with tears. I sniffed as I fought back the memory. _It's not real, Kurai. __He's__ not real. He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore._ I sniffed and tried to calm myself down, but it only helped a little.

I finally got myself back together and looked up, not at all surprised to see the chibi captain staring down at me with a…concerned look. _Wow, for someone so small, he sure can run fast._ As soon as I thought that, my face burned bright red as I realized that I had basically just had a temper tantrum in front of the Captain. I looked away and played with my hands in my lap. He didn't do or say anything, he just sighed before sitting down next to me, his own t-shirt covered back resting against the rough bark of the tree.

He sighed before saying, "I don't suppose I'll be able to get you to explain what just happened." I shook my head, unwilling to even speak at this point. Another sigh. Suddenly two white plastic bags were thrust upon my lap. I stared at them wide-eyed, not believing that he picked them up. I looked sideways to see the side of him when he started to speak again.

"I figured since they were in a bag, you had already paid for them. With Rangiku's money, I might add," he said with a sideways glance at me. I couldn't help giving the 'I'm-innocent-and-have-no-clue-what-you're-talking-about' smile. He gave me a slight glare before it turned into just the faintest grin in return. That only made me grin wider at having been able to get the icy-cold Captain to smile, if only a little bit. That then made me remember the last time I got him to smile: when he found out about my ears and tail. I blushed before I shook my head to dispel the memory. By now I had calmed down quite a bit from that freaky vision. _I'll think about it later. He might have something to do with my parents' murder._ I took a deep breath just as a strong wind blew and I smelled my wolves coming closer at an alarming speed. Soon they were surrounding me protectively, snapping and snarling at Captain Hitsugaya once they smelt the salt of my tears.

"Shh. He didn't do anything wrong. I just got freaked out a little," I explained, ignoring the snort that left the Captain when I said 'freaked out a little' and stroking Taiyō's muzzle to help calm her down. She curled up around my left side, resting large blond paws and muzzle on my feet. Toboe curled up on my right, putting his reddish head on my thighs, while Tsume sat at my right between me and the captain and Tsuki walked around the clearing, always keeping an eye on me.

"I guess it's true that wolves really are loyal to the pack," Hitsugaya commented, watching as I interacted with them, my hand buried in Toboe's neck fur.

"Hmm," I hummed in agreement, "they consider me their Alpha, which in pack hierarchy is the leader."

"I know that," he snapped. A few minutes passed before he spoke again. "We should head back, who knows what Rangiku could've done while I was gone."

"Probably blew her money on clothes. Although she's also 130$ poorer now. I wonder how much she could've bought with her remaining amount," I snickered. Taiyō made a rumbling sound in her throat which sounded suspiciously like laughter and I grinned. The captain shook his head as he stood up and I tried to follow his lead, but Taiyō and Toboe made it almost impossible to get up. I managed to shake them off and told them to go back to Orihime's house and wait for me there. As the captain and I walked back to the mall, I couldn't help but think of him, Kaito Higarashi, the man who kidnapped me when I was 20 years old. _He's the reason I hated soul reapers and the one who gave me all my scars, mentally and physically._ And then I couldn't breathe.

**%#%#%#%**

"R-Ran! I-I can't breathe!" I gasped as she only proceeded to squeeze me tighter.

"Oh Kura! I was so scared when I couldn't find you! But then I realized the captain went after you and I was so relived," she squealed. She suddenly got this look in her eyes as she pushed me away a little to get a good look at me, but still held on tight. "So, you and the captain were gone a while. What were you two doing all alone?" she said with eyebrows raised. My face heated up as I heard Ichigo and Renji start to cough/laugh behind her. I snarled.

"We weren't doing anything!" I ground out.

"_**That doesn't mean you don't wish you two were doing something," Inari said smugly.**_

"_Damn you, Inari. What the hell are you talking about? And where have you been?" I snarled at him._

"_**Oh, you know, around," He said.**_

"_No, I don't know," I growled._

"_**No matter how much you lie to yourself, you can't lie to me. I know you better than anybody ever could," he reminded, his words having a double meaning.**_

"_Go to hell, Inari," I growled _and I refocused on the conversation in front of me, trying to ignore Kaminari Kitsune's deep laughter.

"KURA!" someone shouted in my ear. I jumped backwards away from the sudden loud noise and put my hands on top of my head, covering my fox ears. Of course, no one but the captain knew what I was really doing and gave me weird looks.

"Uh, Rain? Why are your hands on your head?" Renji asked all confused-like.

"Uhhhh…no reason," I said quickly before dropping my hands. "So, what were you guys talking about? I kinda spaced out."

"We have orders to return to the Soul Society by tonight. You're all to spend the rest of the day getting all your business in order. We leave at 7 from Kisuke's," Captain Hitsugaya explained. I nodded before starting to walk back to the house to spend time with Tsume and the others. I decided to strip out of my gigai before walking back to Orihime's house. I was sitting on a swing in a park when a ball suddenly hit my feet. I kept swinging, expecting whoever threw it to just come and pick it up since no human cam see me, but was surprised when a child's voice rang out.

"Excuse me miss, could you pass us that ball, please?" I looked up to see a pair of children standing a little bit away, and my eyes widened. The boy had short black hair and light green eyes while the girl had long brown hair and brown eyes, but I'd still recognize them anywhere.

"Mom, dad," I breathed, not loud enough for them to hear me.

"Uh, miss? Can we have that ball?" my mom (not my mom anymore) asked. I picked up the ball and walked over to them before kneeling in front of them.

"What are your names, little ones?" I asked gently.

"I'm Aomi and this is my best friend, Hikigaeru," the girl, Aomi, said.

"Aomi and Hikigaeru, huh?" I said grinning. (A/N: Hikigaeru means toad and in Naruto, Minato summons toads. I just thought it fits :)

"You can just call me Hiki," Hiki said. I nodded before handing them the ball.

"You be careful okay? There are a lot of dangerous things in this world and I don't want you two getting hurt," I cautioned them. They nodded before running off and I saw Hiki look back and wave. I waved back before flash-stepping to Orihime's house, not bearing to stay a minute longer.

**%#%#%#%**

I finally arrived at Orihime's house and immediately collapsed on the floor, my hands covering my eyes as sobs caused my body to shake. I felt furry bodies wrapping themselves around me, letting me know they were there for me. I sniffed before wiping my eyes.

"Come on. We should get going. I still gotta make dinner for everyone," I said as I wiped away the last tear that fell down my cheek. I walked into the kitchen and put all my thoughts into cooking dinner. I actually ended up cooking too much so I took a bit of it and went to Ichigo's house.

"Kurai? What are you doing here? You're all supposed to meet at Kisuke's after dinner to return to Soul Society," he said as he opened the door.

"Yeah, I know, but I was making dinner and I kinda made too much so I figured I would give you some your family tonight. A kind of thank you for helping us out again," I said with a slight bow.

"Oh, well, thank you," he said as he took the offered food. I nodded before flash-stepping back to Orihime's house just in time to see said person with the other obnoxious orange headed person chowing down without me.

"You animals! You didn't even wait for me!" I shouted before grabbing a plate and joining them.

"Captain! If you don't hurry you're not gonna get any dinner!" Ran yelled to the icy Captain sitting in the living room.

"Not hungry." Came the reply. Ran whined before going back to stuffing her face. Once we finished Ran grabbed her bag(s) and we headed to Kisuke's, meeting up with Rukia, Momo, Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Ichigo.

**%#%#%#%**

We finally made it to Kisuke's only to be greeted by an angry red-headed brat with a baseball bat.

"He Carrot Top! Get your friends outta the way! I'm playing here!" he yelled.

"Actually Jinta, you should be doing your chores or Mr. Tessai is gonna be mad again," said a girl with short straight purple-black hair and pretty violet eyes.

"Shut up Ururu. You're not the boss of me!" the brat, Jinta, said before rubbing his fists harshly on Ururu's head.

"Ow, Jinta! Stop, you're hurting me," she whined. I darted forward and grabbed the brat by the back of his neck and held him up.

"Hey! Put me down, you old hag!" he shouted. Just then, the door to the shop opened and Kisuke stepped out, a black cat at his heels.

"Now, why don't we all come inside and talk over some tea?" he said, his face hidden behind a fan.

"We don't have time to sit and chat. We must get back and report to Soul Society," Captain Hitsugaya said. Kisuke sighed and stepped aside to let us inside.

We all immediately filed into the underground training room, following Ichigo and Kisuke. There Kisuke got to work setting up the Senkaimon that would take us back to Soul Society. As everyone but Ichigo, Chad, and Rukia (who was staying behind to man her post here in Karakura Town) filed into the Senkaimon, I looked back only to see that Kisuke had lowered his fan so I could see the word he mouthed to me. 'Ame'. My eyes widened just as Ran pulled my arm and the Senkaimon closed before me.

**%#%#%#%**

We stepped out of the Senkaimon and I was immediately tackled to the round. I recognized the curly brown hair and started laughing as I wrapped my arms around the little mousy girl that held me tightly.

"Kotori! I can't breathe!" I laughed as she only held tighter.

"You're alright. I heard that you were attacked in the World of the Living and I was so worried," she said. I patted her head and said, "Its okay. You know me! Nothing can beat me now that Kaminari Kitsune and I are together!"

"I'll report to the Head Captain. Everyone else, you're dismissed to your barracks," the icy Captain said.

"See you later, Kura! I gotta go make sure everything's ready for when the Captain and Lieutenant get back," she chirped. "See you later!" and then she ran off, her zanpakutō banging rhythmically against her hip. _I guess I should head back to Squad 3 then. Izuru would probably like some help._

"_**Hmm. Kit, do you think that Higarashi is responsible for your parents and the Hollow attacks in the World of the Living?" Kaminari Kitsune asked.**_

"_I'm positive. By why now? It's been 110 years since I've seen him. Why make a move now?" I asked back as I started walking to Squad 3 barracks._

"_**He probably waited for you to get stronger. The anger over your parents' death and the fact that you're high-ranked in a squad as a soul reaper makes you more of a challenge. To him, the more powerful you are, the sweeter it will be to take you down and break you," he explained.**_

"_That makes sense in a twisted sort of way," I agreed. _

"Hey Izuru! I'm back! Did you miss me?" I said as I walked straight into his office.

"Welcome back, Kurai," he said with a small smile on his face.

**%#%#%#%**

(Toshiro's P.O.V.)

"Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of Squad 10, reporting back from the World of the Living," I announced.

"Come in," came the Head Captain's voice. I opened the door and walked in, kneeling before the Captain's desk. "Report."

"Sir, there was increased Hollow activity in Karakura Town, however we were unable to identify their goal or who sent them, as they didn't seem to be drawn to a specific spiritual pressure. Ichigo Kurosaki also reports that all strong spiritual pressures have been closely monitored in case they were the cause of drawing the Hollows but he is certain that none of them were. With the Hollows not going after any specific soul, I can only assume that they were searching for something. Except…." I stopped, not sure if my hunch was correct.

"What is it, Captain?" he asked.

"Well, it's only a hunch, but I believe the Hollows were searching for someone. And that they found her."

"Hmm?"

"As soon as we started being on guard for the Hollows, they attacked us. But it was only my group. None of the others were attacked. And, the majority of the Hollows went after Kurai Kiri, the 3rd seat of Squad 3," I finished.

"I see. We have also found out something. The person responsible for the Hollow attacks. His name was Rei Ame. He changed it the day he joined the Royal Guard to Kaito Higarashi. He was a member over 140 years ago. However, he began experimenting on young soul reapers and was set to be executed. Instead, he disappeared and hasn't been seen since. Three nights before the execution, two other members of the Royal Guard were sent on a mission. They never returned. It is believed that they were killed by Higarashi while on the mission," the Head Captain.

"What two members disappeared?" I asked.

"Tama Ame and his wife Nanomi," he replied.

"I heard about them. They were very skilled. Tama used to be the Captain for Squad 3 and Nanomi his Lieutenant. Wait, wouldn't that make Higarashi Tama's brother?" I asked. The Head Captain nodded.

"_This is deeper than I thought," I thought._

"_**Yes. But why were the Hollows targeting Kiri? Hyōrinmaru asked.**_

"_Good question."_

"Sir? Why were the Hollows going after Kiri? She has nothing to do with Higarashi," I said.

"That I cannot tell you. Dismissed," he commanded. I knew it was useless to argue. I bowed before I left the room. As I walked to my barracks I couldn't help but wonder at the connection between Kaito Higarashi, an ex-Royal Guard; Tama and Nanomi Ame, two dead or at least missing members of the Royal Guard, one of which is related to Higarashi; and Kurai Kiri, the 3rd seat for Squad 3. _Whatever the connection, I will find it._

**%#%#%#%**

**Alright! Finally done! I'm sorry it's shorter but hopefully now I can really get back into it now that the juicy stuff is finally starting. And I went back and edited all the pre-existing chapters. Hopefully everything makes sense. If it doesn't, please tell me. I look forward to your comments! Until Chapter 10!**

**Later peeps!**

**~ShadowWolf62400**


End file.
